How to Get a Liquor License in Mississippi (2026): Cost, Classes and Steps
How do you get a liquor license in Mississippi?
In Mississippi, retail liquor permits are issued directly by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division of the Department of Revenue rather than by a separate local board. A bar, restaurant or hotel bar applies for an On-Premises Retailer's Permit while a liquor store applies for a Package Retailer's Permit and Mississippi is a control state at the wholesale level, so every retailer buys its opening stock from the state's own ABC warehouse. Mississippi does not run a population-based quota on the number of these permits, though the county or city must already allow retail alcohol sales under its own local option vote and a person generally may not own more than one package retailer's permit.
In Mississippi, retail liquor licenses go through the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. A first-time applicant files with the state directly. Mississippi sets no cap on the number of retail licenses, so there is no slot to wait for and no existing license to buy out. Work the page top to bottom and the whole path is visible before any single deadline is due.
Mississippi runs a partial control system, handling some spirits wholesale or retail itself while private retailers hold the on-premise and off-premise licenses. Server training is voluntary here, an incentive rather than a licensing condition. Every owner, officer and significant investor clears a background check. Each piece has its own section below, with the official source beside it.
The parts a Mississippi applicant most often misses are the public-notice window, which runs on the state's schedule rather than yours and the order of the steps, since several gate the ones after them. The sections below take them in order.
Which liquor license does a Mississippi bar, restaurant or store need?
The retail license classes Mississippi issues, what each covers and the venue each fits. Match your venue to the class before anything else.
| Class | Covers | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| On-Premises Retailer's Permit Standard on-premises retail permit | on-premise, full spirits | The general class for a bar, restaurant, hotel or lounge selling liquor, wine and beer for on-site consumption; not a quota class |
| Wine-Only On-Premises Retailer's Permit Wine-only on-premises permit | on-premise, wine | Wine-only on-premises class for a venue that serves wine of five to twenty-one percent alcohol by volume but not spirits, per Miss. Code Ann. Section 27-71-5; beer and light wine ride a separate Title 67 Chapter 3 permit track |
| Private Club Permit Private club on-premises permit | on-premise, full spirits | For a members-only private club rather than a public bar or restaurant |
| Package Retailer's Permit Package (liquor store) retail permit | off-premise, full spirits | The off-premise liquor-store class; a person generally may not own more than one, with narrow 2024 and 2025 statutory exceptions for a second permit |
Is Mississippi a quota or control state?
Whether Mississippi caps the number of licenses and whether the state runs any part of retail itself. Mississippi sets no cap, though its control structure still shapes which license a private business can hold.
| Item | Mississippi rule |
|---|---|
| Quota state? | No, there is no cap on the number of licenses |
| How the cap works | n/a. There is no population-ratio cap on the number of on-premises or package retailer permits the state will issue statewide or by county. |
| Buying an existing license | n/a. Permits are issued directly by the state to a qualifying applicant rather than allocated through a capped pool that trades privately. |
| State control | Partial control. Mississippi controls the wholesale side of liquor and wine: the state buys and warehouses nearly all product sold in the state and applies a mandatory markup of about 27.5 percent plus excise tax before a retailer can buy it. Retail itself is privately owned, roughly 550 package stores and about 2,000 on-premises outlets as of the most recent published count. A new on-premises or package retailer must make its initial stock purchase from the state ABC warehouse and continues buying through it. Beer and light wine under the statutory alcohol threshold are not warehoused by the state and move through ordinary private wholesale channels. |
How much does a liquor license cost in Mississippi?
| Item | Mississippi |
|---|---|
| State and local fees to apply | $475 to $1,825 in state ABC permit fees depending on class (wine-only or private club at the low end, a package store at the high end), plus a $32 fingerprint and background check fee for the applicant and each required owner or key employee. A separate local privilege license fee from the city or county adds more and varies by location and business size. |
| Renewal | The same $475 to $1,825 class fee recurs annually and the $32 fingerprint fee applies again for at least some renewal applicants. |
| What drives the range | Permit class is the main driver: a wine-only or private club permit costs far less than a full on-premises or package store permit. County and city privilege license fees layer on top and vary by population and local ordinance rather than by state schedule. |
The itemized fees a first-time Mississippi applicant can expect from the state.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| On-premises retailer's permit (standard) | $925 |
| Wine-only on-premises permit | $475 |
| Private club permit | $475 |
| Package retailer's permit (off-premise) | $1,825 |
| Fingerprint and background check processing fee, per applicant or required key employee | $32 |
| Application processing fee (bundled into the class fee above, not billed separately) | $25 |
How long it takes. 4 to 6 weeks after a complete application, per the state's own new retailer's permit application instructions. The fingerprint-based state and FBI background investigation and the required two-issue newspaper publication of the application run inside this window. An incomplete application packet or a lease that does not meet the required minimum remaining term extends it.
How to apply for a liquor license in Mississippi, step by step
Several of these steps gate the ones after them, so the order matters as much as the list.
- Confirm the county or municipality already allows retail alcohol sales under its local option status
- Confirm the site meets the statutory distance rule from any church, school, kindergarten or funeral home
- Sign up for a TAP account with the Department of Revenue
- Complete the ABC new retailer's permit application in TAP for the chosen class, attaching the floor plan, the zoning compliance form and the lease or deed
- Submit fingerprint cards for the applicant and each required owner or key employee
- Publish notice of the application for two consecutive issues in a qualifying local newspaper
- Pay the class permit fee and the fingerprint processing fee
- Respond to any Department deficiency request during the background investigation
- Receive the permit, then place the initial stock order with the ABC warehouse before opening
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Local approval and public notice in Mississippi
The city or county layer on top of the state license, plus any notice you must post or publish. The public-notice window is often the shortest clock in the whole process.
| Item | Mississippi rule |
|---|---|
| Local sign-off required? | It depends on the class and the jurisdiction |
| What the local layer does | The premises must sit in a county or municipality where retail alcohol sales are already authorized under a local option vote and must meet the distance rule from any church, school, kindergarten or funeral home, certified on an ABC city or county zoning compliance form. Mississippi's ABC Division issues the retail permit directly rather than routing an individual application through a separate city or county alcohol-licensing board vote. |
| Public notice | Notice of the application publishes for two consecutive issues in a qualifying newspaper in the city or county where the business sits, at the applicant's cost, stating the permit type, the exact location and the names of the owners, under Miss. Code Ann. Section 67-1-53. |
| Worth knowing | Wet or dry status is decided county by county and separately for a city of qualifying population within a dry county, through a local option election under Miss. Code Ann. Sections 67-1-11 and 67-1-13. A municipality can hold a similar election for beer and light wine under Miss. Code Ann. Section 67-3-9. A general local privilege license, required of nearly every business type and paid to the city or county tax collector, is separate from the ABC permit and is not a precondition of the state filing. |
Server training in Mississippi
Whether the people pouring or selling alcohol must certify through a state program, plus the deadline.
| Item | Mississippi rule |
|---|---|
| Required for a first-time retailer? | Voluntary, an incentive rather than a licensing condition |
| State program | The ABC Division offers free responsible-server training sessions on request, covering ID-checking practices and liability reduction, scheduled to fit the requesting business, but not a named credentialing program with a required certificate |
| Worth knowing | Training is not a condition of licensure or of employment in the sources reviewed. |
Background check and renewal in Mississippi
Background check
| Item | Mississippi rule |
|---|---|
| Background check required? | Yes |
| Who is checked | The applicant and required key employees or owners submit fingerprint cards through local law enforcement; the ABC Division forwards them to the state Criminal Information Center and then the FBI for a national criminal history check |
| Disqualifiers | Under Miss. Code Ann. Section 67-1-57, disqualifying factors include a felony conviction, being under 21, lacking a reputation as a law-abiding citizen, being indebted to the state, alcohol misuse, inability to read and write English and living in the same household as someone whose permit was recently cancelled. A non-violent felony does not automatically bar a manager who has been out of incarceration for at least three years, subject to Department review. |
| Worth knowing | The $32 fingerprint processing fee is a pass-through to the state Criminal Information Center under 31 Miss. Admin. Code Part 2, Rule 9.2. A corporate applicant discloses officers who own ten percent or more of the stock. |
Renewal
| Item | Mississippi rule |
|---|---|
| Renewal cycle | annual |
| Worth knowing | Permits run one year from the date of issuance. The state mails a renewal notice 60 days before expiration and the completed renewal application with attachments is due back 30 days before expiration. |
