COLLEGE STATION, Texas — David Burton, a junior at Texas A&M University, usually hangs out at the Northgate Entertainment District at least once a week.
When he goes, he always sees someone drinking underage.
"Once a week, maybe on a good week, twice a week — it gets kind of hectic. You know, there's a lot of people out here," Burton said.
The city of College Station Presiding Municipal Judge Ed Spillane says it's part of a growing problem of under-age drinking in the area.
In College Station, about 1,000 minors were charged with possessing alcohol this year, making it the highest number in the state.
These include charges like minor in possession, public intoxication, minor in consumption and using a fake ID has doubled in the past two years.
The number of cases outweigh cities like Lubbock (193), Denton (139), South Padre (113), Galveston (89), Dallas (64), Bryan (33), Round Rock (22), Waco (12), Georgetown (6), Austin (6) and Houston (3).
65 more cases were filed Monday, following the university's football win against Auburn. According to Spillane, it's about a third of the cases that Lubbock sees in a year.
He says majority of these charges are coming out of Northgate.
"It’s not coming from dormitories. It’s not coming from people residences or parties. A lot of are minor possession cases are coming from the Northgate area," Spillane said.
Spillane says an already increased police presence due to more serious crimes like violence is one of the reasons more minors get caught.
But Burton says getting a drink is easy if you know the right people.
"Running up to people being like ‘Hey can you buy me something?’ or going into any type of bar if they know somebody, just trying to get drinks or fake IDs," Burton said.
He has seen many students using fake IDs to buy drinks or asking people of age to get the drink for them.
There are some bars that do let 18-year-old's into their bar, and some bars try to curb underage drinking by giving out wristbands or drawing black X's with markers on minors to identify them.
But Burton says it's easy to bypass that, too.
Underage drinkers can wash off the marker or get drinks from others.
But some students like Aubry Williams, a freshman at the university, says he's heard from other underage students that getting alcohol from bars in the district is tough.
He usually goes to Northgate for food, but has had friends get their fake IDs confiscated while trying to get into bars.
"I do have some stories from my friends that they get all their fakes stolen, and they’re pretty harsh about it," Williams said.
But his friends tell him it's easier to get alcohol like beer from gas stations.
Both Burton and Williams feel underage drinking isn't too much of a problem that it can't be solved.
Spillane believes it can be fixed, too, with more education and communication around the issue.
The court tries to educate those who are charged by placing them into programs like an alcohol awareness class and community living class where they hear from police and even have to perform community service.
It also partner with Texas A&M Student Life for its "Be a Good Neighbor" program and hopes a nearly $500 citation deters under-age drinking.
Burton hopes it can prevent someone from getting hurt.
"People could be more careful. You know cause it is a dangerous situation. You don’t want anyone getting hurt," Burton said.