ILCS » Chapter 235 · Act 5
Illinois Compiled Statutes

235 ILCS 5/6-1 (2026)

Privilege granted by license; nature as to property; transferability; tax delinquencies

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section IL-ILGAilga.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
(235 ILCS 5/6-1) (from Ch. 43, par. 119)
    Sec. 6-1. Privilege granted by license; nature as to property; transferability; tax delinquencies. A license shall be purely a personal privilege, good for not to exceed one year after issuance, except a non-beverage user's license, unless sooner revoked as in this Act provided, and shall not constitute property, nor shall it be subject to attachment, garnishment or execution, nor shall it be alienable or transferable, voluntarily or involuntarily, or subject to being encumbered or hypothecated. Such license shall not descend by the laws of testate or intestate devolution, but it shall cease upon the death of the licensee, provided that executors or administrators of the estate of any deceased licensee, and the trustee of any insolvent or bankrupt licensee, when such estate consists in part of alcoholic liquor, may continue the business of the sale or manufacture of alcoholic liquor under order of the appropriate court, and may exercise the privileges of the deceased or insolvent or bankrupt licensee after the death of such decedent, or such insolvency or bankruptcy until the expiration of such license but not longer than six months after the death, bankruptcy or insolvency of such licensee. Except in the case of a non-beverage user's license, a refund shall be made of that portion of the license fees paid for any period in which the licensee shall be prevented from operating under such license in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph.
    Any licensee may renew his license at the expiration thereof, provided he is then qualified to receive a license and the premises for which such renewal license is sought are suitable for such purpose; and provided further that the renewal privilege herein provided for shall not be construed as a vested right which shall in any case prevent the city council or village president and board of trustees or county board, as the case may be, from decreasing the number of licenses to be issued within its jurisdiction. No retailer's license shall be renewed if the Department of Revenue has reported to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission that such retailer is delinquent in filing any required tax returns or paying any amounts owed to the State of Illinois until the applicant is issued a certificate by the Department of Revenue stating that all delinquent returns or amounts owed have been paid by guaranteed remittance or the payment agreement to pay all amounts owed has been accepted by the Department. No retailer's license issued by a local liquor control commissioner shall be renewed unless the applicant provides documentation that any tax owed to (i) the municipality in which the applicant is located (in the case of a license issued by the mayor or president of the board of trustees of a city, village or incorporated town acting as local liquor control commissioner) or (ii) the county in which the applicant is located (in the case of a license issued by the president or chairman of a county board acting as local liquor control commissioner) by the applicant has been satisfied by payment in the form of a cashier's check, certified check, money order, or cash.
    For a liquor license holder whose business or business operations have been suspended in any capacity due to any executive order issued on or after March 16, 2020 or any subsequent rule established by the Department of Public Health or any other agency of the State as a result of COVID-19, renewal of the license shall be automatically approved and the license shall be extended without limitation for 120 days after whichever of the following dates occurs the latest:
        (1) the day on which the region in which the liquor
    
licensee is located enters Phase 4 of the Governor's Restore Illinois Plan as issued on May 5, 2020;
        (2) the day after the expiration of the latest
    
executive order that limits or interrupts the business or business operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; or
        (3) the day after the expiration of any rules
    
established by the Department of Public Health or any other agency of the State that limit or interrupt the business or business operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The renewal shall be based upon the most recent liquor license application or application for renewal that was approved and received by the State Commission prior to the limitations or interruptions implemented by the Executive Order on March 16, 2020.
    A negotiable instrument received as payment for a license fee, transfer fee, late fee, offer in compromise, pre-disciplinary conference settlement, or fine imposed by order that is dishonored on presentation shall not be considered payment and shall be cause for disciplinary action.
(Source: P.A. 101-631, eff. 6-2-20.)

    
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1998–2015 · leading case: Club Misty, Inc., Doing Bus. as Tequila Roadhouse v. James Laski, Clerk of the City of Chicago, 208 F.3d 615 (7th Cir. 2000).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Club Misty, Inc., Doing Bus. as Tequila Roadhouse v. James Laski, Clerk of the City of Chicago, 208 F.3d 615 (7th Cir. 2000). · cites it 2× “These cases rely on a provision of the Illinois Liquor Control Act which states that a liquor license is not property, 235 ILCS 5/6-1, and on "the wooden distinction between 'rights' and 'privileges'" that the Supreme Court has "fully and finally rejected.”
N&N Catering Co. v. City of Chicago, 26 F. Supp. 2d 1067 (N.D. Ill. 1998). · cites it 3× “The City, in turn, contends that Reed and Philly’s are not controlling, and refers to the express language of the Liquor Control Act, 235 ILCS 5/6-1, and the following line of cases which state that an Illinois liquor license is a mere privilege: Sapir v.”
WISAM 1, Inc. v. Illinois Liquor Control Comm'n, 2014 IL 116173 (Ill. 2014). “Initially, we note that although a liquor license is generally regarded as a privilege, and not a property right under the Liquor Control Act (235 ILCS 5/6-1 (West 2010)), once issued, it becomes a property right in a functional sense for due process purposes because it is only…”
N & N Catering Co., Inc. v. City of Chicago, 37 F. Supp. 2d 1056 (N.D. Ill. 1999). · cites it 4× “In each of these cases, the Seventh Circuit declined (either expressly or implicitly) to find the above section of the Liquor Control, 235 ILCS 5/6-1, controlling as to whether a liquor license is property for purposes of the Due Process Clause.”
People v. Cannon, 2015 IL App (3d) 130672 (Ill. App. Ct. 2015). “See 235 ILCS 5/6-1 et seq. (West 2012). As such, the burden of proving that the exemption does not apply should be on the State.”
WISAM 1, Inc. v. Illinois Liquor Control Comm'n, 2014 IL 116173 (Ill. 2014). “Initially, we note that although a liquor license is generally regarded as a privilege, and not a property right under the Liquor Control Act (235 ILCS 5/6-1 (West 2010)), once issued, it becomes a property right in a functional sense for due process purposes because it is only…”
Club Misty, Inc v. Laski, James (7th Cir. 2000). “These cases rely on a provision of the Illinois Liquor Control Act which states that a liquor license is not property, 235 ILCS 5/6-1, and on "the wooden distinction between ’rights’ and ’privileges’" that the Supreme Court has "fully and finally rejected.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.