MONROE — A former bartender at a Browntown tavern was fined Friday for a misdemeanor conviction of violating liquor license laws by keeping the business open past the weekend mandatory closing time of 2:30 a.m.

Tina L. Rees, 46, McConnell, Illinois, appeared without counsel in Green County Circuit Court and waived her right to an attorney. She pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor and was fined $516. She’s ordered to pay the fine at a rate of $50 per month starting in August.

According to the criminal complaint, a deputy stopped by Trailside Inn, 101 E. Old Highway Road, at 2:33 a.m. on March 4 and found it still open.

“As I approached the business, I heard yelling coming from inside the business. The business appeared to be still operating at this time,” the deputy noted in a report.

Sixteen customers were still drinking in the establishment, and when the deputy asked Rees why she hadn’t closed by 2:30 a.m., she said the bar was busy that night and she had some customers who were refusing to leave. The deputy suggested she call the sheriff’s department when this happens.

Rees was previously warned for keeping Trailside Inn open too late at 2:43 a.m. on Jan. 14.

When the same deputy returned March 4, she claimed she was being “harassed” by the Green County Sheriff’s Office and was “very argumentative and uncooperative,” he wrote.

Two days later, the deputy drafted and sent a letter to the Village of Browntown requesting that the village board consider revoking Rees’ bartending license.

Donna Wyss, village board clerk, said the board “took immediate action” on the letter by notifying Rees by certified mail that her bartending license was revoked.

Rees is “more than welcome” to come to Browntown but she is barred from bartending in the village “forever,” Wyss said.

“We respect the Green County Sheriff’s Office and their opinions,” she said.