Warwick, RI Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

00. Applications go in writing to the board of public safety under § 10-24, and an approved license runs for a three-year term, always expiring in February regardless of when it was issued; retailers who already hold a valid state license are approved without an additional city fee. A license previously suspended or revoked can only be reissued after a full board hearing and an affirmative majority vote. Section 10-25 bars any licensee, employee, or agent from selling, distributing, or delivering tobacco products, including through a vending machine, to anyone under 18, and bars posting or displaying tobacco advertising as defined in § 10-22, which reaches any ad on the outside of a business within a half-mile of a school, nursery school, playground, or other youth recreation area.

The police department enforces the article and must run compliance checks on every licensee at least twice a year, more often after a violation, per § 10-26. 00 fine for each of the first five licensing offenses, with a 15-day license suspension added on the third offense, 30 to 90 days on the fourth, and 60 to 120 days on the fifth; a sixth offense revokes the license outright. Forty-eight consecutive violation-free months resets the count to a first offense. During any suspension, § 10-27 requires the licensee to pull all tobacco products off the shelves and lock them away, and selling during a suspension triggers outright revocation; § 10-28 applies the same fines to vending machines, which must be pulled from the premises for a suspension and permanently removed on revocation.