Kern County, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

020 for anyone in the unincorporated county to act as a tobacco retailer, defined broadly to include sales of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff, electronic smoking devices and related paraphernalia, without first obtaining a permit for each fixed location. Peripatetic tobacco sales and sales from vehicles are flatly prohibited, and every day a retailer sells tobacco products without a valid permit is a separate violation. 030 requires the application to include proof of a valid state tobacco retailer's license from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and verification that the permittee completed a training program in California tobacco sales law approved by the department; new businesses must apply by the last day of the month following the month sales started.

040 lets the department deny a permit for incomplete or false information, for a location under suspension, or for unlawful retailing, though an arm's-length buyer of an existing business can rebut a denial with clear and convincing evidence of the purchase. 050. 100: $250 for a first violation, $500 for a second within five years, and $1,000 for a third or later violation, plus permit suspensions running from a warning notice up to 180 days or revocation by a fourth violation. 120 shields supervised youth decoys used in compliance checks from enforcement.