RALEIGH — Careless checking of IDs -- or not looking at them carefully enough -- has led the Wake County Board of Alcohol Beverage Control to cite 12 stores for selling beer to minors.

The minors were two 18-year-old undercover agents who visited 30 stores in the county. Eighteen businesses refused to sell them the beer.

Citations were issued to the clerks who made the sales, and violation reports will be submitted against the stores' owners.

If clerks attend a first-offenders program, they have the opportunity to have their charges dismissed. The 6-phase program teaches clerks how to check IDs properly, what to do when minors try to buy alcohol and how to spot someone underage.

Checks of stores are conducted regularly; more are expected in the next few weeks.

The public and police are often sources of ABC Board information about illegal sales to minors.