How to Get a Liquor License in Missouri (2026): Cost, Classes and Steps
How do you get a liquor license in Missouri?
In Missouri, retail liquor licenses are issued by the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control within the Department of Public Safety. A first-time applicant chooses between a by-the-drink license for on-premise consumption and an original package license for off-premise sale and within each a beer-only, beer-and-light-wine or full-spirits scope. Missouri sets no statewide or county population cap on the number of retail licenses, so a qualifying applicant is not competing for a limited slot, though most cities and counties layer their own separate local license on top of the state one.
In Missouri, retail liquor licenses go through the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. A first-time applicant files with the state directly. Missouri 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.
Server training is voluntary here, an incentive rather than a licensing condition. Every owner, officer and significant investor clears a background check. Local involvement depends on the class and the jurisdiction. Each piece has its own section below, with the official source beside it.
The parts a Missouri 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 Missouri bar, restaurant or store need?
The retail license classes Missouri issues, what each covers and the venue each fits. Match your venue to the class before anything else.
| Class | Covers | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| RBD Retail by the Drink | on-premise, full spirits | Standard on-premise license for a bar or restaurant serving spirits, wine and beer and includes beer sales. A resort or gross-receipts qualification review applies only in certain areas for the resort variant of this class. |
| 5BD Beer by the Drink | on-premise, beer | Common first license for a small tavern or restaurant serving only beer for on-premise consumption; includes Sunday sales in the base fee. |
| 5BDW Beer and Light Wine by the Drink | on-premise, beer and wine | Covers beer and light wine, wine of 14 percent alcohol by weight or less, for on-premise consumption; Sunday sales require a separate secondary license. |
| OPL Original Package Liquor | off-premise, full spirits | Package license for a liquor store, grocery, general merchandise, drug, tobacco, confectionery or delicatessen store; requires an itemized inventory worth at least $1,000 not counting fixtures and alcohol. |
| 5OP Beer Original Package | off-premise, beer | Package beer-only license for a convenience store, grocery or similar retailer; common first license for a store that will not carry wine or spirits. |
Is Missouri a quota or control state?
Whether Missouri caps the number of licenses and whether the state runs any part of retail itself. Both answers are no here, which is a big part of why Missouri is one of the simpler states to enter.
| Item | Missouri rule |
|---|---|
| Quota state? | No, there is no cap on the number of licenses |
| State control | No, private licensing throughout. Missouri is a license state, not a control state. The division regulates, licenses and taxes retail alcohol sales; it does not run state-owned liquor stores or a state wholesale monopoly and a private off-premise applicant sells under a state license rather than through a state agency. |
How much does a liquor license cost in Missouri?
| Item | Missouri |
|---|---|
| State and local fees to apply | $50 to $300 in state license fees depending on class, plus a separate local city or county license fee where the jurisdiction requires one and the cost of the criminal record check |
| Renewal | $50 to $300 per year by class, the same schedule as the initial fee, plus a $100 to $300 per-license late fee if renewal is completed after May 1 |
| What drives the range | The state fee is set by class under RSMo 311.200 and the ATC fee schedule: beer-only classes sit at the low end and full-spirits by-the-drink and original-package classes at the high end. Local fees add to the total and are set independently by each city or county. |
The itemized fees a first-time Missouri applicant can expect from the state.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Beer by the Drink license (5BD) | $50 per year |
| Beer and Light Wine by the Drink license (5BDW) | $50 per year |
| Retail by the Drink license (RBD), full spirits | $300 per year |
| Beer Original Package license (5OP) | $50 per year |
| Original Package Liquor license (OPL), full spirits | $100 per year |
| First-year license fee proration | prorated monthly from the effective month through June 30, using the July rate as the full annual fee |
| Late renewal fee | $100 per license type in May, $200 in June, $300 in July, if renewal is completed after the May 1 due date |
| Local city or county license fee | varies by jurisdiction; capped at $300 per year for a drinking-establishment license in a city over 20,000 population under RSMo 311.480 |
How long it takes. 10 to 21 days after a complete application. The division states this range for a complete Primary Retail Application submitted through the ALCMS Portal. A missing document, a resort or gross-receipts qualification review, or a needed local consent under the 100-foot school and church rule can extend it.
How to apply for a liquor license in Missouri, step by step
Several of these steps gate the ones after them, so the order matters as much as the list.
- Confirm the premises location against the 100-foot school and church distance rule and obtain local governing-body consent in writing if needed
- Register the business and obtain a Missouri Retail Sales Tax License from the Department of Revenue
- Obtain a Certificate of No Tax Due from the Department of Revenue, dated within 90 days and addressed to the Supervisor of Liquor Control
- Gather a criminal record check dated within six months for every owner, partner, managing officer, director and ten-percent-or-greater interest holder
- Gather supporting documents: photos of the owner and the premises, the signed lease or deed, a paid property tax receipt or waiver, voter registration proof and a certificate of good standing for any entity applicant
- Complete the Primary Retail Application online through the ALCMS Portal, upload the supporting documents and pay the license fee for the chosen class
- Apply separately for any city or county liquor license the local jurisdiction requires
- Await division review, generally 10 to 21 days for a complete application and file proof of any local license with the division within ten days of receiving it
Get the free Missouri liquor license checklist
The one-page map of the Missouri application steps, in the order Missouri runs them.
Instant download, plus Missouri rule-change alerts. Unsubscribe anytime.
Local approval and public notice in Missouri
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 | Missouri rule |
|---|---|
| Local sign-off required? | It depends on the class and the jurisdiction |
| What the local layer does | Cities and counties may license and regulate retail liquor sales under RSMo 311.220 and 311.480 and most require their own separate local liquor license alongside the state license. The state will not deny a state application solely because the applicant lacks a city or county license, but a licensee must file a copy of any local license with the division within ten days of receiving it. A premises within 100 feet of a school or church needs written consent from the city council, board of aldermen or other local governing body before a license can issue there, unless the school or church was established after the premises was already licensed. |
| Public notice | Ten days written notice to every property owner within 100 feet of the premises is required before the local governing body may consent to a license within 100 feet of a school or church. No general newspaper-publication or premises-posting requirement is set at the state level; individual cities may add their own notice steps. |
| Worth knowing | State law bars counties and unincorporated cities or towns from banning the retail sale of liquor in the original package and only an incorporated city may hold a public referendum to ban sale by the drink; sources found no incorporated Missouri city that has passed such a referendum. Cities may extend the 100-foot school and church distance rule up to 300 feet or waive it entirely. Local license fees and application steps are set independently by each city or county, not by the state. |
Server training in Missouri
Whether the people pouring or selling alcohol must certify through a state program, plus the deadline.
| Item | Missouri rule |
|---|---|
| Required for a first-time retailer? | Voluntary, an incentive rather than a licensing condition |
| Who must certify | n/a statewide; an individual establishment or a local ordinance may require it for servers, managers or the licensee |
| State program | State of Missouri Alcohol Responsibility Training (SMART), a free online program through the University of Missouri Wellness Resource Center, referenced by the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control |
| Worth knowing | SMART certification is valid for two years once completed. The division encourages but does not require completion as a condition of a retail license and completion can support liability and insurance benefits. |
Background check and renewal in Missouri
Background check
| Item | Missouri rule |
|---|---|
| Background check required? | Yes |
| Who is checked | A criminal record check dated within six months of the application is required for the sole owner, every partner or the managing officer, every officer and director of the applicant entity and every shareholder or member owning ten percent or more of the business. Missouri residents submit a record check issued by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Records Division through the MACHS system; non-residents submit a record check issued by their state of residence. |
| Disqualifiers | Applicants must show good moral character and be a qualified legal voter and taxpaying citizen of the county, city, town or village where the license applies. A prior license revocation or a conviction for violating the liquor law generally bars a new license, with reapplication possible five years after a revocation. A person under 21 cannot hold or manage a license because Missouri law bars anyone under 21 from purchasing or possessing intoxicating liquor under RSMo 311.325. |
| Worth knowing | If the sole owner, a partner or the managing officer was born outside the United States, a copy of that person's naturalization certificate or a valid U.S. passport is required. A felony conviction unrelated to liquor manufacture or sale is not by itself a bar to an employee working for a licensee. |
Renewal
| Item | Missouri rule |
|---|---|
| Renewal cycle | annual |
| Worth knowing | The state license year runs July 1 through June 30 regardless of the date the license first issued, with the first-year fee prorated by month. Renewal applications for the coming license year open in the spring through the online ALCMS Portal and a completed renewal must be received by May 1 to avoid a late fee; late fees of $100, $200 and $300 per license type apply for applications completed in May, June and July respectively. A renewal application must include a notarized Attestation for Renewal Application signed by the sole owner, all partners or the managing officer, a requirement newly enforced starting with the 2026 to 2027 renewal season. |
