How to Get an Idaho Liquor License

By StartBusinessByState·Publisher: Robert Smith·Research process

Last updated: October 14, 2026

Idaho does not sell liquor by the drink licenses to whoever qualifies; it rations them. Idaho Code §23-903 caps the licenses in any incorporated city at one for every 1,500 residents (with a floor of two for the smallest towns), and when a city has none available the Idaho State Police Alcohol Beverage Control bureau keeps a priority waiting list for it. Joining the list costs half the annual license fee — $375 in Boise, where the full fee is $750 — and licenses are offered to the top of the list once a year as census estimates add population. The state fee itself is modest, $300, $500 or $750 depending on the city’s size, but a state license is not enough to pour: Idaho also requires a county license and, inside city limits, a city license, and in Boise every server trains within 60 days of hire. Since July 1, 2023, a newly issued city license cannot be sold to another licensee, which has changed what the wait is worth.

Training: The State Asks Nothing; Boise Gives You 60 Days

The Idaho State Police liquor license application checklist asks for fingerprint cards, a lease or deed, a floor plan and the fees; it asks for no server certificate, and Idaho’s liquor title leaves that question to the cities. Boise answers it with a mandate. The City of Boise requires that “anyone serving or selling alcohol for on-premises consumption in Boise” complete an alcohol server training program approved by the Boise Police Department within 60 days of employment, and the certification is valid for three years. The city lists approved options — TIPS, SureSellNow and A+ Server Education among them — and notes that the Boise Police Department and the Idaho State Police periodically host free in-person sessions. Boise’s food and beverage license application asks for the server training information alongside the state and Ada County licenses, so the training is checked at licensing, not just at inspection.

Outside Boise, check the city clerk where you will operate before assuming the state rule is the only rule. The pattern is the same one Nebraska uses: a permissive state statute with mandates written into individual city codes.

The Quota, the List and What a License Is Now Worth

Under §23-903 no liquor by the drink license issues outside the incorporated limits of a city except for the special classes the chapter names (golf courses, ski resorts, airports, year-round resorts), and within a city the count “shall not exceed one (1) license for each one thousand five hundred (1,500) of population,” measured by the last census, a special census or a statistically valid estimate that can count new utility connections and annexed areas. A city of 1,500 or fewer may still have two. A license that has operated at its location for ten consecutive years is deemed validly issued and renewable regardless of the quota.

When a city has no license available, IDAPA 11.05.01.013 requires the bureau to keep a priority list for it, ordered by the date of application. Getting on it means filing a Priority Waiting List Application with a deposit of one-half the annual license fee for that city — the bureau’s own instructions give Boise at $375 against a $750 annual fee and Ponderay at $250 against $500 — and an applicant may hold only one place per city. Licenses are offered by certified mail once a year after new population figures arrive, for ten weeks or until October 1, and the bureau’s instructions say offers usually go out at the end of July or early August. The applicant has 10 days from receipt to accept, then 180 days to complete every requirement for issuance (extendable up to 90 days for good cause). An applicant who declines or cannot complete may request the end of the list; a first-place applicant who fails to accept is refunded and the offer goes to the next name.

The 2023 legislature changed the arithmetic of waiting. Under §23-903 as amended, an incorporated city license issued on or after July 1, 2023 may not be transferred to another licensee except in the family, inheritance and business-succession cases the statute lists, and a license issued before that date may be transferred only once. The bureau’s procedure still describes the transfer fee for a sale of a pre-2023 license as 10 percent of the purchase price or the value of goodwill, whichever is greater, and half the annual renewal fee for a lease arrangement. The waiting list, in other words, now leads to a license you can use but not resell.

Fees, Fingerprints and the Other Two Licenses

Section 23-904 sets the state fee by the city’s population: $300 a year in a city of 1,000 or less, $500 from 1,000 to 3,000, and $750 above 3,000. Golf course licenses run $200, $300 or $400 by county population, and a year-round resort license carries a one-time $25,000 fee with a $3,500 annual renewal. A licensee operating only part of a year may have the fee prorated to the end of the year, but never for less than six months. Every officer, partner, member and individual on the application submits a fingerprint card dated within 150 days and pays $37 per card; the bureau has 90 days to process and investigate an application; and §23-910 disqualifies anyone with a liquor-law conviction in the past three years, a felony in the past five, or no retail beer license. The state application lists that beer endorsement at $50, with wine by the bottle and by the glass included. Renewal runs on a month the director assigns by county under §23-908, with a 31-day grace period during which the licensee may not sell until renewed.

The application form states the rule most new owners miss: “City and county licenses are required before you can serve alcohol.” Ada County’s Recorder issues its license only on a copy of the state license, charges $187.50 for liquor by the drink (wine included in that price) and $25 to $100 for beer, requires a beer license before a wine or liquor license, runs its year from June 1 through May 31, and takes two to three weeks. Boise then issues the city license on the state and county documents. Three licenses, three renewals, one bar.

What It Costs

License or requirement	What it does	Fee
Priority waiting list deposit	A place in line for a city with no license available; refunded if you fail to accept an offer	One-half the annual fee (Boise $375; Ponderay $250)
State liquor by the drink license, city of 1,000 or less	Liquor, beer and wine by the drink	$300
State license, city of 1,000 to 3,000		$500
State license, city over 3,000	Boise and every other city above 3,000 residents	$750
State retail beer license	Required by §23-910 before a liquor license can issue; wine by the bottle and glass included	$50
Golf course license	By county population	$200 / $300 / $400
Year-round resort license	One-time fee, then annual renewal	$25,000, then $3,500
Fingerprint-based background check	Per officer, partner, member or individual on the application	$37 each
Transfer of a pre-2023 license (one time only)	Sale	10% of purchase price or goodwill, whichever is greater
Ada County liquor by the drink license	Required in addition to the state license; wine included; June 1 to May 31	$187.50
Ada County beer license	Required before wine or liquor	$25 to $100
City license and server training	Boise: city license plus Boise Police-approved training within 60 days of hire	Set by the city; course price set by the provider
Idaho LLC	Certificate of Organization, Secretary of State	$100 online / $120 paper

A License You Wait Years For and Then Cannot Sell

Idaho’s quota is stricter than most: one license per 1,500 residents, where Arkansas rations only its liquor stores by population and leaves bars uncapped. What made the Idaho wait tolerable for decades was that the license, once issued, was an asset — it could be sold to another operator in the same city. The 2023 amendments to §23-903 ended that for new licenses. A city license issued on or after July 1, 2023 stays with the licensee except through estate planning, a family gift, or an associated transfer to another business the licensee owns, and pre-2023 licenses get exactly one more sale. Montana handled the same scarcity by auctioning new licenses to the highest bidder; Idaho kept the queue and removed the resale. The result is that the priority list is now a wait for the right to operate, not for a tradable certificate, and the half-fee deposit is the entire price of admission.

The liability rule is built for defendants. Idaho Code §23-808 opens with the legislature’s finding that “it is not the furnishing of alcoholic beverages that is the proximate cause of injuries inflicted by intoxicated persons,” then allows a claim in two situations only: the person served was under the legal drinking age, or was obviously intoxicated, and the seller knew or ought reasonably to have known it. Even then no claim may be brought unless the claimant notified the seller by certified mail within 180 days of the date the claim arose, and the intoxicated person, that person’s estate and the passengers in that person’s vehicle may not sue at all. Montana uses the same 180-day certified-mail mechanism; Arkansas sends the question to a jury without a notice bar. The 60-day Boise training rule and the 180-day Idaho notice rule are the two clocks a bar owner here actually lives by.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Find out whether your city has a license available. Call the ISP Alcohol Beverage Control bureau in Meridian. If the city is at its 1-per-1,500 quota, the path is the priority waiting list; if a license is available or you are buying a pre-2023 license, you apply directly.
2. Register the entity — an Idaho LLC Certificate of Organization is $100 online or $120 on paper at the Secretary of State.
3. Join the list with the Priority Waiting List Application and a deposit of half the annual fee ($375 in Boise). One place per city. Keep your mailing address current with the bureau or the offer is refunded and skipped.
4. Accept within 10 days of the certified-mail offer, then complete the full application within 180 days: the Liquor License Application, a fingerprint card and $37 for every officer, partner or member, the lease or deed, a hand-drawn floor plan, the $50 state beer endorsement, and the state liquor fee ($300, $500 or $750 by city size). The bureau has 90 days to investigate.
5. Get the county license. In Ada County, bring the state license, the notarized county application, the landlord’s consent and the manager’s Idaho ID to the Recorder; $187.50 for liquor by the drink, two to three weeks, valid June 1 to May 31.
6. Get the city license. Boise requires the state and county licenses, a site map, and the Boise Police-approved server training information with the food and beverage license application.
7. Train the staff. In Boise, every person serving or selling for on-premises consumption completes approved training within 60 days of hire and renews every three years.

Staying Licensed

Know your renewal month. Under §23-908 the director assigns each county a renewal month; the license expires at 1:00 a.m. on the first day of that month, and the 31-day grace period does not let you sell until the renewal is filed and granted.

Three licenses, three calendars. The state renewal month, the Ada County year ending May 31 (renewals due in mid-May), and the city’s annual renewal all run separately.

Do not plan on selling a post-2023 license. It transfers only through the family, estate and business-succession routes in §23-903; a pre-2023 license has one sale left, at a transfer fee of 10 percent of the price.

Keep the training file. Boise’s 60-day rule and three-year renewal are checked at licensing, and the 180-day certified-mail notice in §23-808 is what an over-service claim has to clear first.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a liquor license in Idaho?

The state fee under Idaho Code §23-904 is $300 a year in a city of 1,000 people or less, $500 in a city of 1,000 to 3,000, and $750 in a city over 3,000. Golf course licenses are $200, $300 or $400 by county population, and a year-round resort license is $25,000 one time plus $3,500 a year. Add the $50 state retail beer license (required by §23-910; wine by the bottle and glass included), $37 per fingerprint card, the county license (Ada County charges $187.50 for liquor by the drink, wine included) and any city license. If your city has no license available, getting on the priority waiting list costs a deposit of half the annual fee, $375 in Boise.

How does the Idaho liquor license waiting list work?

Idaho Code §23-903 caps liquor by the drink licenses at one per 1,500 city residents, and IDAPA 11.05.01.013 requires the Idaho State Police Alcohol Beverage Control bureau to keep a priority list for each city with none available. You file a Priority Waiting List Application with a deposit of one-half the annual license fee and hold one place per city. When population growth frees a license it is offered by certified mail to the top of the list, once a year and usually in late July or early August; you have 10 days to accept and 180 days to complete the application. An applicant who declines or cannot complete may request the end of the list; a first-place applicant who fails to accept is refunded and the offer goes to the next name.

Can you sell a liquor license in Idaho?

Only an older one, and only once. Under §23-903 as amended in 2023, an incorporated city license issued on or after July 1, 2023 may not be transferred to another licensee except in the family, inheritance and business-succession cases the statute lists; a license issued before that date may be transferred one time only. The Idaho State Police procedure sets the transfer fee for a sale at 10 percent of the purchase price or the value of goodwill, whichever is greater.

Do you need a license to bartend in Idaho?

Not from the state, but possibly from your city. The Idaho State Police application requires no server certificate. The City of Boise requires anyone serving or selling alcohol for on-premises consumption to complete a Boise Police Department-approved alcohol server training program within 60 days of employment, valid for three years, and lists TIPS, SureSellNow and A+ Server Education among the approved providers. Check the city clerk where you will work.

Do you need a county liquor license in Idaho?

Yes. The state application form states that city and county licenses are required before you can serve alcohol. Ada County issues its license on a copy of the state license, charges $187.50 for liquor by the drink (wine included) and $25 to $100 for beer, requires a beer license before a wine or liquor license, runs its license year from June 1 through May 31 and takes about two to three weeks; the City of Boise then requires both the state and county licenses with its food and beverage license application.

Does Idaho have a dram shop law?

A narrow one. Idaho Code §23-808 finds that furnishing alcohol is not the proximate cause of an intoxicated person’s injuries and allows a claim only where the person served was under the legal drinking age or obviously intoxicated and the seller knew or ought reasonably to have known it. No claim may be brought unless the claimant notified the seller by certified mail within 180 days of the date the claim arose, and the intoxicated person, that person’s estate and the passengers in that person’s vehicle cannot sue.

What does an Idaho LLC cost?

The Certificate of Organization filing fee is $100 at the Idaho Secretary of State. Filing online through SOSBiz avoids the $20 manual processing fee charged on paper submissions, so a mailed filing totals $120.

Forming the company, taxes, insurance, and hiring are covered in our full guide to starting a business in Idaho.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
Idaho Code §23-903 — License to retail liquor	No license shall be issued outside the incorporated limits of any city except as provided; the number of licenses for any city shall not exceed one (1) license for each one thousand five hundred (1,500) of population, established by the last census, a special census or a statistically valid estimate; not more than two (2) licenses may be issued for each incorporated city with a population of one thousand five hundred (1,500) or less; a license in effect at its location for ten (10) years or more is deemed validly issued; the director maintains a priority list of applicants; a license issued on or after July 1, 2023 may not be transferred to another licensee except as provided, and a license issued before that date may be transferred one (1) time only
Idaho Code §23-904 — License fees	For each license in a city of one thousand (1,000) population or less, three hundred dollars ($300) per annum; from one thousand (1,000) to three thousand (3,000), five hundred dollars ($500); more than three thousand (3,000), seven hundred fifty dollars ($750); golf course licenses two hundred dollars ($200), three hundred dollars ($300) or four hundred dollars ($400) by county population; year-round resort a one (1) time fee of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) with a renewal fee of three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) per annum; a licensee operating only a portion of a year may have the fee prorated but in no event for less than six (6) months
Idaho Code §23-908 — Form of license, expiration	All licenses expire at 1:00 o’clock a.m. on the first day of the renewal month determined by the director by county; a licensee who fails to file for renewal on or before the first day of the renewal month has a grace period of an additional thirty-one (31) days but shall not sell liquor by the drink during the extended period unless and until the license is renewed
Idaho Code §23-910 — Persons not qualified to be licensed	No license shall be issued to any person convicted within three (3) years of any violation of laws relating to the importation, transportation, manufacture or sale of alcoholic liquor or beer, or convicted of any felony within five (5) years prior to the date of application; no license shall be issued to a person who does not hold a retail beer license issued under the laws of the state of Idaho
Idaho Code §23-808 — Dram shop liability	The legislature finds that it is not the furnishing of alcoholic beverages that is the proximate cause of injuries inflicted by intoxicated persons; a claim may be brought only where the intoxicated person was younger than the legal age for the purchase of alcohol, or was obviously intoxicated at the time the beverages were sold or furnished, and the seller knew or ought reasonably to have known; no claim may be brought unless the claimant notified the seller within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date the claim arose by certified mail; no claim by the intoxicated person, his estate, or passengers in his vehicle
Idaho State Police ABC — Priority Waiting List Application and instructions	The fee for the priority liquor waiting list is half (1/2) the annual renewal fee for the liquor license in the city for which you are applying, i.e. Boise City $375 ($750 annual), Ponderay $250 ($500 annual); your name is entered at the bottom of the waiting list for the city you chose; licenses are issued by increase in the population of the incorporated city limits from Census Bureau estimates each year; licenses are offered to applicants starting at the top of the list; offers are mailed every year, if possible, approximately the end of July or early August; if the bureau cannot locate you your name is removed and the deposit refunded
Idaho State Police Procedure 10.02 — Alcoholic Beverage Licenses (rev. 02/2024)	Applications are processed first-come, first-served; ABC personnel verify the application, complete a background check and visually inspect the premises; liquor license transfers under I.C. 23-908 include sale of the license with a transfer fee of 10% of the purchase price or cost of good will, whichever is greater, and a lease arrangement at 50% of the annual renewal fee; under I.C. 23-903(16) and (17) an incorporated city license may be sold or transferred only once after July 1, 2023; the priority list applicant pays an application fee of one-half the annual renewal fee and cannot hold more than one position on a city’s list; incorporated city liquor licenses are offered once per year after new census or projected population data is received, for a period of 10 weeks or until October 1; offers are sent by certified mail; an applicant who does not respond within ten (10) days is refunded and the offer goes to the next applicant
Idaho State Police ABC — Liquor License Application (EH 10.02-01, 5/2025)	Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau has 90 days to process and investigate any application received; fingerprint cards are required for each officer, partner, member and individual, dated within the last 150 days, with fees of $37.00 for each submitted applicant’s fingerprint card; current building lease or proof of ownership; hand-drawn floor plan; city and county licenses are required before you can serve alcohol; beer license $50.00 with wine by the bottle and by the glass included
IDAPA 11.05.01.013 — Priority lists (Idaho Administrative Code)	The Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau maintains a priority list of applicants for cities in which no incorporated city liquor license is available; a person shall file a completed application and submit one-half (1/2) of the annual license fee; when a license becomes available it is offered in writing to the first applicant, who has ten (10) days from receipt to declare an intention to accept and one hundred eighty (180) days to complete all requirements, extendable for good cause not to exceed ninety (90) days; an applicant who declines a license or is unable to complete the application may have their name placed at the end of the priority list upon request; a first-place applicant who fails to accept is removed, the fee refunded, and the license offered to the next applicant
Ada County Clerk — Alcohol Beverage License	Licenses are valid from June 1, or the date of issue, through May 31; beer $25.00 retail off-premise, $75.00 bottles and cans on-premise, $100.00 draft, bottles and cans on and off-premise; wine $100.00; liquor $187.50 by the drink on-premise consumption; wine is included in the liquor license price; you must have a beer license to be eligible for a wine or liquor license; license transfer fee $5.00; a copy of the Idaho State Alcohol Beverage License is required; the application process can take 2 to 3 weeks; apply and obtain the license from the State of Idaho, then Ada County, then the respective city
City of Boise — Server Training Information	Anyone serving or selling alcohol for on-premises consumption in Boise must complete an alcohol server training program approved by the Boise Police Department; training must be completed within 60 days of employment and certification is valid for three years; approved providers include TIPS, SureSellNow and A+ Server Education; the Boise Police Department and Idaho State Police periodically host free approved in-person sessions
City of Boise — Food and Beverage License	If your location dispenses alcohol you will also need a current and signed Idaho State Alcohol Beverage License, a current and signed Ada County Alcohol Beverage License, a site map of your location and the Boise Police approved Server Training information; licenses must be renewed annually
Idaho Secretary of State — Business Forms	Start an LLC, Certificate of Organization: $100 base filing fee plus a $20 manual processing fee for paper submissions, $120 total; filing online at sosbiz.idaho.gov avoids the $20 manual processing fee