Dakota County, MN Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 4 of Ordinance No. 133 limits its own reach: except for Section 18's temporary-event rules, the ordinance "applies only to those cities or townships within Dakota County which have provided consent to the county to issue registrations," and a city or township must adopt a resolution and file it with the county before Dakota County will register cannabis or hemp retailers on its behalf. A jurisdiction that has not consented is not opting out of allowing cannabis stores outright, since Minn. Stat. 13(c) bars a total prohibition; it is simply handling its own state-required registration under Minn.

Stat. 22 rather than routing it through the county. Where a city or township has consented, Section 8 layers on a density cap: no more than one cannabis retail registration for every 12,500 residents in the combined area under Dakota County's jurisdiction, and the county will stop issuing new registrations entirely once the countywide ratio reaches one retailer per 12,500 residents, using the State Demographer's population figures. Registration runs through the Public Services and Revenue Department under Section 13, and Section 16 caps the fees a consenting jurisdiction's applicants pay: no application fee, an initial registration fee capped at $500 or half the state license fee, and a renewal fee capped at $1,000 or half the state renewal fee, whichever is less.