Pritzker Administration Announces Results Of Tied Applicant Lottery To Award 75 Conditional Adult-use Cannabis Dispensing Organization Licenses

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced today the results of the Tied Applicant Lottery for 75 Conditional Adult-Use Cannabis Dispensary Licenses (Conditional Licenses) from a pool of 135 unique applicants who received 252 points on their applications. Before Conditional Licenses are issued, the Department will initiate a review process to ensure applicants selected meet all statutorily required rules. Once confirmed, and in accordance with court orders, the Department will issue a Conditional License.

“After all of the lessons learned so far, we know that our fight for equity will continue at each phase to ensure that the hopes of this historic law are true to its promise,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor to the Governor for Cannabis. “Nearly two years ago, high scoring applicants did not know what their future in the Illinois Cannabis industry would be. After the tireless work of the Pritzker Administration, lawmakers and stakeholders who would not give up on the possibility of an industry that looks like our state's incredible diversity, this third lottery puts us closer than ever to making the dreams of so many a reality.”

"Today marks a significant step towards achieving the administration’s goal of establishing a legal cannabis industry that is reflective of Illinois’ communities,” said Mario Treto, Jr., Acting Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. “Thanks to the administration’s ongoing collaborative work with lawmakers, stakeholders, and community leaders, Illinois residents now have the ability to enter and benefit from this new, growing industry in multiple different ways, paving the road for sustained economic growth.”

Unlike the first two lotteries, individual principal officers and applicants in the Tied Applicant Lottery were limited in the number of entries they may have in any BLS Regional lottery. No individual principal officer or applicant could have more entries in a BLS Region’s lottery than the number of licenses to be distributed in that BLS Region. Applicants (through their primary or alternate contacts) or principal officers were required to notify the Department using the Department’s Declination Form if they have a principal officer that causes them to exceed the limitations on entering the Tied Applicant Lottery. All applications associated with a principal officer who exceeds the lottery entry limits following the declination period described were excluded from the Tied Applicant Lottery.

Additionally, an applicant may not have a principal officer who is also a principal officer in more than ten Early Approval Adult Use Dispensing Organization Licenses, Conditional Licenses, and Adult Use Dispensing Organization Licenses. Should a principal officer find themselves in that situation, the principal officer must choose which license(s) to abandon by notifying IDFPR in writing. If the principal officer and/or applicant does not notify IDFPR, the Department will not issue the applicant all available conditional licenses drawn in this lottery.

IDFPR may also deny issuance of Conditional Licenses to any applicant who has a principal officer, board member, or person having a financial or voting interest of 5% or greater who is delinquent in filing any required tax return or paying any amount owed to the State of Illinois.

Those selected in this lottery who receive a Conditional License shall have 180 days to identify a physical location for the dispensing organization’s retail storefront. Groups unable to find a physical location within 180 days may receive an extension of an additional 180 days from IDFPR or be allowed to transfer their Conditional License to another BLS Region specified by the Department. If no extension is granted, the conditional adult use dispensing organization license shall be rescinded and awarded in accordance to the rules of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.

The lottery results may change as a result of court orders or administrative review.

The results of the Tied Applicant Lottery can be found below.

Results of Tied Applicant Lottery for Conditional Licenses Per BLS Region

The Tied Applicant Lottery, with 17 BLS Region drawings, was conducted on August 19, 2021 for 75 Conditional Adult Use Dispensing Organization Licenses (“Conditional License”). Below are the results of the drawings for each BLS region identifying the order in which each Tied Applicant was drawn. This order determines the order in which the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (“Department”) will award the available Conditional Licenses in each BLS region.

Applicants who have the opportunity to be awarded a Conditional License in the Tied Applicant Lottery are subject to strict limitations on the number of total licenses, as mandated by Public Act 102-98. An applicant’s failure to report to the Department that it has exceeded the statutory license limitations will result in the Department’s refusal to issue any of the Conditional Licenses resulting from Tied Applicant Lottery.

Below are the Department’s certified results of the Tied Applicant Lottery for each drawing by BLS Region. Each list identifies the applicants who have an opportunity to receive a Conditional License from that drawing. In order to receive a Conditional License, each applicant must satisfy the statutorily mandated abandonment periods and tax-compliance checks.

Those applicants who have been selected for a conditional license are subject to the statutory requirements of the principal officer and license limitations and tax compliance checks, available here. If an applicant is required to abandon a license because it exceeds the license limitations, the applicant shall have five business days, from the day the results of the Tied Applicant Lottery are posted to the Department’s website, to abandon, and the next drawn applicant will be notified of their opportunity to be awarded a conditional license. Additionally, if an applicant cannot prove its tax compliance within 60 days of winning a conditional license in accordance with 68 IAC 1291.95, the Department will deny issuance of the Conditional License(s) and the next drawn applicant will be notified of their eligibility to be awarded a conditional license. Therefore, the result lists below may change pending the abandonment of an applicant’s conditional license and/or an applicant’s failure to prove tax compliance. This means additional applicants, whose draw order followed the abandoning applicant’s order, may become an awarded applicant.

The announced conditional licenses to be awarded may be subject to change as a result of court orders or administrative review.

BLS Region #1 (Bloomington) 1 Conditional License Available

BLS Region #2 (Cape Girardeau) 1 Conditional License Available

BLS Region #3 (Carbondale-Marion) 1 Conditional License available

BLS Region #4 (Champaign-Urbana) 1 Conditional License available

BLS Region #5 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin) 47 Conditional Licenses Available

BLS Region #6 (Danville) 1 Conditional License available

BLS Region #7 (Davenport-Moline-Rock Island) 1 Conditional License available

BLS Region #8 (Decatur) 1 Conditional License available

17BLS Region #9 (Kankakee) 1 Conditional License available

BLS Region #10 (Peoria) 3 Conditional Licenses available

BLS Region #11 (Rockford) 2 Conditional License available

BLS Region #12 (St. Louis) 4 Conditional Licenses available

BLS Region #13 (Springfield) 1 Conditional License available

BLS Region #14 (Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan) 3 Conditional License available

BLS Region #15 (West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan) 3 Conditional License available

BLS Region #16 (East Central Illinois nonmetropolitan) 2 Conditional License available

BLS Region #17 (South Illinois nonmetropolitan) 2 Conditional License available

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