Joliet, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 4-72 makes it unlawful to sell, deliver or offer to sell tobacco products or alternative nicotine products anywhere in Joliet without a valid tobacco dealer license, though wholesale sales are exempt. A license covers only the specific address named on it, and a licensee who also wants to sell vapor products, alternative nicotine products or electronic smoking devices must apply separately for an endorsement tied to that same location. Applications go to the liquor and tobacco commissioner with a $500 nonrefundable fee under section 4-73, and every owner, partner, member or manager must submit fingerprints and consent to a Joliet Police Department background check.

Section 4-74 bars issuance to anyone more than 30 days delinquent on a debt to the city, anyone convicted of a felony without proven rehabilitation, and any location within 100 feet of a public or private school, measured in a straight line including public right-of-way. Since January 1, 2024, no new vape shop endorsement may issue within 2,640 feet of another licensed vape shop in the same shopping center, plaza or strip mall without commissioner approval, though shops already licensed at the time keep their yearly renewal.

Licenses and endorsements are nontransferable, tied to a single owner and location, and terminate automatically if 50 percent or more of the business ownership changes hands. Section 4-75(l) sets the annual renewal fee at $1,000 per license or endorsement, due by January 1, with a $50-per-day late fee kicking in after January 7. Section 4-81 sets the minimum sale age at 21 and bars anyone under 16 from working the register where tobacco is sold.