Blue Earth County, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Blue Earth County's tobacco licensing ordinance, adopted June 9, 1998 to enforce Minn. Stat. § 144.391 and § 461.12, requires a county license before any retail establishment in unincorporated Blue Earth County can sell cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco or any tobacco-related device such as rolling papers or a pipe. Sec. 4-126 makes the license run for one calendar year, expiring every December 31, with new licenses prorated and renewals due 30 to 60 days before expiration; the county administrator processes applications and forwards them to the board of commissioners for action at the next regular meeting.

A moveable place of business, defined in Sec. 4-112 as any truck, van or other vehicle not a fixed storefront, cannot be licensed at all under Sec. 4-126(g). The code does not define vape or e-cigarette products separately; its tobacco definition is the traditional leaf-based one from the 1998 ordinance, so vape retailers are licensed under the same general tobacco license. Sec. 4-128 lets the county deny or revoke a license to an applicant under 18, one convicted of a tobacco-law violation in the past five years, or one whose license was revoked in the prior 12 months.

Sections 4-146 through 4-151 ban sales to anyone under 18, sales through vending machines or self-service displays not staffed by an employee, and sales of loosies. The sheriff's office must run at least one compliance check per year using a supervised minor between 15 and 18. Sec. 4-153 fines a licensee $75.00 for a first violation, $200.00 for a second within 24 months, $250.00 for a third, and suspends the license for at least seven days after a third offense; other adults face a $50.00 administrative fee, and minors are referred to Blue Earth County Community Corrections.