Springfield, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- License fee
- $25 annually
- Coin-op device registration
- $25 per device/year
- Approving authority
- Mayor's office
- Sale to under 21
- Prohibited (720 ILCS 675/1)
- Penalty
- $100-$500 per day
- License term
- Jan. 1 to Dec. 31
Summary
Anyone selling tobacco products in Springfield, by any method including coin-operated devices, must hold a tobacco dealer's license from the mayor's office. The license runs $25 a year, and every coin-operated tobacco device must be separately registered for $25 annually.
(a)Any person who sells or offers for sale, any tobacco products regardless of the method of sale or dispensing, including sales and dispensing by self-help, manual service or coin-operated tobacco device, shall obtain a tobacco dealer's license.(c)The initial license term shall commence on July 1, 1983, and expire at the end of December 31, 1983, with fees at one-half the full rate. Thereafter, the license term shall commence January 1 and expire at the end of December 31 in accordance with the general licensing provisions.(d)The approving authority shall be the mayor. (a)The tobacco dealer's license fee shall be $25 annually.(b)The coin-operated tobacco device registration fee shall be $15 per device annually. Effective January 1, 1984, the fee shall be $25 per device annually.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 82).
Full Breakdown
City Code Article XXXIV requires a tobacco dealer's license for any person who sells or offers tobacco products for sale, regardless of the method of sale or dispensing, which explicitly covers self-help displays, manual counter service, and coin-operated tobacco devices (Sec. 325(a)). The mayor's office is the approving authority (Sec. 325(d)). Licenses run on the calendar year, expiring December 31 under the chapter's general licensing provisions (Sec. 325(c)). The annual license fee is $25, and each coin-operated tobacco device must be registered separately for $25 per device per year, up from the original $15 rate set when the article took effect (Sec.
326). Every licensed operator must register each coin-operated device it places in an establishment (Sec. 325(b)), and the city clerk issues a numbered decalcomania for each registered device that must be displayed on the device or prominently in the establishment; a lost decal can be replaced for a $5 fee (Sec. 328). No manager may allow an unregistered coin-operated tobacco device to remain in use (Sec. 327). Separately, no person may sell, furnish, or give tobacco, tobacco products, or smoking paraphernalia to anyone under 21, tracking the state's Tobacco 21 law, 720 ILCS 675/1 (Sec. 329), and tobacco adulterated with opium, morphine, jimson weed, belladonna, strychnia, cocaine, or other prohibited drugs may never be sold (Sec. 330).
Violations & Fines
Selling tobacco products or operating a coin-operated tobacco device without the required license or registration is a violation of Chapter 110, punishable under the chapter's general penalty at Sec. 110.999: a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 plus costs, with each day of continued violation charged as a separate offense. The license itself can also be suspended for up to 90 days or revoked under Sec. 110.013 for fraud on the application, failure to pay fees, or refusal to allow inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Springfield
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