Kenosha, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

B, in Chapter XIII's business-license schedule, makes it unlawful to sell, expose for sale, possess with intent to sell, exchange, barter, dispose of or give away cigarettes or tobacco products to anyone who does not hold a City of Kenosha retailer license or a Wisconsin permit under Wis. 79, unless the seller is an employee working on a licensed retailer's premises. Licenses issue on written application, run from July 1 through the following June 30 regardless of when in the year they are issued, and cost a flat $100 that is not prorated for a partial year.

Each license names one licensee and describes one specific premises; it cannot be transferred between people or moved to another location. Licensed retailers must keep complete purchase and receipt records on the licensed premises for two years, available for inspection by state and local law enforcement at reasonable hours. C layers on youth-access rules tied to the license: retailers must post a sign warning that sales to anyone under eighteen are unlawful, vending machines need a similar posted warning plus a $25 forfeiture notice for underage purchasers, and no vending machine may sit within 500 feet of a school.

A retailer who sells cigarettes outside a properly tax-stamped package also violates the section. 144, the City's separate e-cigarette ordinance, which restricts sale and possession of vapor products to minors but does not itself require a license.