Bolingbrook, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- Annual tobacco dealer's license from village clerk
- Covers
- Cigarettes, cigars, hookah, e-cigarettes and vaping devices
- Minimum age
- 21 to sell, buy or possess
- Renewal deadline
- November 15 each year
- Licensee violation fine
- $200.00 per day
- Suspension/revocation fine range
- $200.00 to $2,000.00 per violation
Summary
Selling cigarettes, cigars, hookah products or e-cigarettes at retail in Bolingbrook requires an annual tobacco dealer's license from the village clerk under Code Sec. 12-315. The ordinance's 'smoking materials' definition expressly covers electronic and e-cigarettes, so vape shops face the same licensing, age-21 sales limit, warning-sign and vending-machine rules as cigarette retailers, enforced by the village's tobacco commissioner.
Smoking materials include any lighted or unlighted cigarette, including, but not limited to, clove, bidis, or kreteks, electronic or e-cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipes, hookah products, and any other smoking products; and any smoking, smokeless, spit or spit-less, dissolvable or inhaled tobacco products... ... It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale at retail, to give away, deliver or to keep with the intention of selling at retail, giving away or delivering smoking materials within the village without having first obtained a tobacco dealer's license therefor pursuant to this division.
Full Breakdown
Bolingbrook's tobacco dealer's license, Code of Ordinances Division 5 of Chapter 12 (Secs. 12-314 through 12-328), reaches every retailer of 'smoking materials,' a term the village defines to include lighted or unlighted cigarettes, clove cigarettes, bidis, kreteks, electronic or e-cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipes, hookah products, and smokeless or dissolvable tobacco. Anyone selling, giving away or keeping such products for retail sale must first obtain an annual tobacco dealer's license under Sec. 12-315. Applying under Sec. 12-316 means filing with the village clerk, paying the fee set in the village fee schedule, and disclosing owners, officers and any stockholder holding more than five percent of a corporate applicant's stock.
Renewal applications are due by November 15 each year, and a ten percent penalty attaches to any late annual fee; a license also cannot renew while state or village tax debts are outstanding. Sec. citizens, have felony convictions, hold a previously revoked license, or serve as a village trustee or other official with a financial interest in the business. Under Sec. 12-318, licensees cannot sell smoking materials, including vape products, to anyone under 21, and Sec. ' Employees who sell must themselves be 21 or older (Sec.
12-320), and vending machines dispensing smoking materials need a locking device restricting access to adults (Sec. 12-324). 00 per violation, only after a public hearing preceded by seven days' written notice (Sec. 12-326); a revoked license bars reapplication for six months (Sec. 12-327).
Violations & Fines
Selling or furnishing smoking materials, including vape products, to anyone under 21 violates Sec. 12-318, and a minor who purchases or possesses them faces a fine of at least $50.00 plus possible completion of the village's impact program or 30 hours of community service under Sec. 12-328(a). Other licensee violations draw a $200.00 fine for each day the violation continues, and the tobacco commissioner may instead suspend or revoke the license or impose a $200.00 to $2,000.00 fine per violation after a hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bolingbrook's tobacco license cover vape and e-cigarette shops?
Who issues the license and when must it be renewed?
What happens if a licensee sells to someone under 21?
Can a minor be penalized for buying or possessing vape products?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bolingbrook
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