Records: Whiskey Row pays $26K state penalty over security guard issues

Whiskey Row LLC has paid $26,000 to the state of Tennessee after employing unlicensed guards, records show.

Dallas Barrett, 22, died of oxygen deprivation after a fight with private security guards at Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row honky-tonk in downtown Nashville on Aug. 16, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department. Seven people face reckless homicide and aggravated assault charges in his death, including six guards on duty that night.

The $26,000 civil penalty comes after a state investigation revealed four of the six guards charged were working without licenses, a consent order released by the state's Private Protective Services department shows.

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Whiskey Row LLC is the arm of the bar that employed the guards. The state's Alcoholic Beverage Commission also previously fined it $9,000. Its license to employ private security was stripped in January amid the investigation.

However, the newly released order said Whiskey Row's ability to employ private guards would be reinstated in one year after paying the $26,000 fine and agreeing to its terms. Some of those terms include compliance checks by the state and monthly submissions of payroll records and guard rosters by Whiskey Row.

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The new $26,000 penalty consists of $12,000 for operating without a designated qualifying manager for over a year; $10,000 for employing two security guards over five months without appropriate registration; and $4,000 for employing two other guards without appropriate registration.

Dallas Barrett's mother, Tammy Barrett, released a statement through her lawyer after news of the civil penalty broke. The statement said the order shows Whiskey Row is a "practiced bad actor" and called the fine "paltry" compared to the establishment's revenue.

"No amount of civil penalties paid by Whiskey Row will restore Dallas Barrett to his mother," the statement said.

Find reporter Rachel Wegner at rawegner@tennessean.com or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Whiskey Row LLC pays $26K after man's death at Nashville honky tonk