35 ILCS 135/4

(35 ILCS 135/4) (from Ch. 120, par. 453.34)

Sec. 4. Distributor's license. A distributor maintaining a place of business in this State, if required to procure a license or allowed to obtain a permit as a distributor under the Cigarette Tax Act, need not obtain an additional license or permit under this Act, but shall be deemed to be sufficiently licensed or registered by virtue of his being licensed or registered under the Cigarette Tax Act.

Every distributor maintaining a place of business in this State, if not required to procure a license or allowed to obtain a permit as a distributor under the Cigarette Tax Act, shall make a verified application to the Department (upon a form prescribed and furnished by the Department) for a license to act as a distributor under this Act. In completing such application, the applicant shall furnish such information as the Department may reasonably require.

The annual license fee payable to the Department for each distributor's license shall be $250. The purpose of such annual license fee is to defray the cost, to the Department, of serializing cigarette tax stamps. The applicant for license shall pay such fee to the Department at the time of submitting the application for license to the Department.

Such applicant shall file, with his application, a joint and several bond. Such bond shall be executed to the Department of Revenue, with good and sufficient surety or sureties residing or licensed to do business within the State of Illinois, in the amount of $2,500, conditioned upon the true and faithful compliance by the licensee with all of the provisions of this Act. Such bond, or a reissue thereof, or a substitute therefor, shall be kept in effect during the entire period covered by the license. A separate application for license shall be made, a separate annual license fee paid, and a separate bond filed, for each place of business at or from which the applicant proposes to act as a distributor under this Act and for which the applicant is not required to procure a license or allowed to obtain a permit as a distributor under the Cigarette Tax Act.

The following are ineligible to receive a distributor's license under this Act:

(1) a person who is not of good character and reputation in the community in which he resides;

(2) a person who has been convicted of a felony under any Federal or State law, if the Department, after investigation and a hearing, if requested by the applicant, determines that such person has not been sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant the public trust;

(3) a corporation, if any officer, manager or director thereof, or any stockholder or stockholders owning in the aggregate more than 5% of the stock of such corporation, would not be eligible to receive a license hereunder for any reason;

(4) a person, or any person who owns more than 15 percent of the ownership interests in a person or a related party who:

(a) owes, at the time of application, any delinquent cigarette taxes that have been determined by law to be due and unpaid, unless the license applicant has entered into an agreement approved by the Department to pay the amount due;

(b) had a license under this Act revoked within the past 2 years by the Department for misconduct relating to stolen or contraband cigarettes or has been convicted of a State or federal crime, punishable by imprisonment of one year or more, relating to stolen or contraband cigarettes;

(c) manufactures cigarettes, whether in this State or out of this State, and who is neither (i) a participating manufacturer as defined in subsection II(jj) of the "Master Settlement Agreement" as defined in Sections 10 of the Tobacco Products Manufacturers' Escrow Act and the Tobacco Products Manufacturers' Escrow Enforcement Act of 2003 (30 ILCS 168/10 and 30 ILCS 167/10); nor (ii) in full compliance with Tobacco Products Manufacturers' Escrow Act and the Tobacco Products Manufacturers' Escrow Enforcement Act of 2003 (30 ILCS 168/ and 30 ILCS 167/);

(d) has been found by the Department, after notice and a hearing, to have imported or caused to be imported into the United States for sale or distribution any cigarette in violation of 19 U.S.C. 1681a;

(e) has been found by the Department, after notice and a hearing, to have imported or caused to be imported into the United States for sale or distribution or manufactured for sale or distribution in the United States any cigarette that does not fully comply with the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C. 1331, et seq.); or

(f) has been found by the Department, after notice and a hearing, to have made a material false statement in the application or has failed to produce records required to be maintained by this Act.

Upon approval of such application and bond and payment of the required annual license fee, the Department shall issue a license to the applicant. Such license shall permit the applicant to engage in business as a distributor at or from the place shown in his application. All licenses issued by the Department under this Act shall be valid for not to exceed one year after issuance unless sooner revoked, canceled or suspended as in this Act provided. No license issued under this Act is transferable or assignable. Such license shall be conspicuously displayed at the place of business for which it is issued.

No distributor licensee acquires any vested interest or compensable property right in a license issued under this Act.

A licensed distributor shall notify the Department of any change in the information contained on the application form, including any change in ownership, and shall do so within 30 days after any such change.

Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Department under this Section may, within 20 days after notice of the decision, protest and request a hearing. Upon receiving a request for a hearing, the Department shall give notice to the person requesting the hearing of the time and place fixed for the hearing and shall hold a hearing in conformity with the provisions of this Act and then issue its final administrative decision in the matter to that person. In the absence of a protest and request for a hearing within 20 days, the Department's decision shall become final without any further determination being made or notice given.

(Source: P.A. 95-1053, eff. 1-1-10; 96-782, eff. 1-1-10.)