Baldwin County
Baldwin County Commission (county governing body)
In short
Baldwin County Commission (county governing body) issues 3 permits we publish for Baldwin County, last verified 2026-09-28. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special County Privilege License Tax (1% of Gross Receipts) | Baldwin County Commission (county governing body) | 1% of the gross proceeds of sales, or gross receipts, of the business, in addition to all other taxes including each municipality's own gross-receipts license tax; exemptions mirror the state sales-tax exemptions | recurring, tied to the business's ongoing gross receipts; administered under the County Commission's authority to levy this tax under Act 83-532 | 2026-09-28 |
| Massage Parlor Licenseonly if it applies to you | Baldwin County Commission (county governing body) | No dollar fee is set in the statute itself — §45-2-40.02 delegates fee-setting to the Baldwin County governing body's own resolution, which is not reproduced in the statute | not stated in the statute; a revoked license bars re-licensing in the county for 12 months (§45-2-40.13) | 2026-09-28 |
| Alcoholic Beverage License (state ABC Board; Baldwin County is Wet Countywide)only if it applies to you | Baldwin County Commission (county governing body) | No fee | not applicable at the county level | 2026-09-28 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Special County Privilege License Tax (1% of Gross Receipts)
Baldwin County levies a second, distinct county revenue obligation on top of the flat Title 40-12 occupational privilege license: a special county privilege license tax equal to 1% of a business's gross proceeds of sales or gross receipts, authorized by §45-2-244.072 (Act 83-532). The statute is explicit that this tax applies 'in addition to all other taxes, including municipal gross receipts license taxes' — so it stacks with both the flat Title 40-12 classification fee and, for a business inside city limits, that city's own municipal gross-receipts tax. Its exemptions mirror the exemptions already built into Alabama's state sales tax. This is a percentage-of-revenue tax, not a fixed annual fee, so the amount owed scales directly with a business's sales and is not a one-time or capped charge. Most business owners researching only the flat Probate Office privilege-license fee would not otherwise learn this second obligation exists, which is why it is recorded here as its own requirement rather than folded into the general privilege-license records above.
Massage Parlor License
Baldwin County requires a separate license from the county governing body, the Baldwin County Commission, before operating a 'massage parlor,' defined by §45-2-40.01 as any establishment other than a hospital, medical clinic, nursing home, dispensary, or a physician's, surgeon's or osteopath's office where non-medical, non-surgical, non-osteopathic and non-chiropractic manipulative exercises, massages or body-work procedures are practiced. That definition exempts only medical-adjacent facilities — it contains no exemption for a salon or fitness studio whose massage services are performed solely by a therapist holding a state license from the Alabama Massage Therapy Licensing Board, a board created in 2005, a quarter-century after this 1980 Baldwin County local act, and the two were never reconciled by a later amendment or state guidance. A salon or fitness studio offering massage by a state-licensed therapist should confirm directly with the Baldwin County Commission whether this separate county license applies to their specific setup; the ambiguity is in the statute's own text. §45-2-40.02 sets no dollar fee itself, delegating that entirely to a County Commission resolution; contact the Baldwin County Commission for the current fee. A license may be revoked for violations after notice and a hearing, and a revoked licensee is barred from re-licensing in the county for 12 months (§45-2-40.13).
Alcoholic Beverage License (state ABC Board; Baldwin County is Wet Countywide)
Baldwin County itself charges no fee for alcohol sales and imposes no county-level wet/dry restriction of its own on a business: the license to sell or serve alcohol comes entirely from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, recorded at the state layer, not from Baldwin County. Baldwin County is classified Wet countywide on the ABC Board's own current wet/dry list, confirmed by a direct read of the Board's own published PDF table — so no part of Baldwin County is dry, and a business does not need to check a city-by-city wet/dry status before applying for a state ABC license anywhere in the county. This wet-countywide status is separate from, and does not resolve, whether Sunday alcohol sales are permitted in any specific Baldwin County city; that is a city-level and local-referendum question outside the scope of this county-level record. A restaurant, coffee shop or retail store selling alcohol also still owes every other county and, if inside city limits, municipal requirement that applies to its location.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Baldwin County
- Phone
- 251-937-0260
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Ala. Code §45-2-244.072 — special county privilege license tax (Act 83-532), 1% of gross proceeds of sales/receiptsJustia (Code of Alabama) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Ala. Code §45-2-40 — massage-parlor article applies to Baldwin County (Act 80-498, 1980)Justia (Code of Alabama) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Ala. Code §45-2-40.01 — defines 'massage parlor' and 'masseur/masseuse'; exempts only medical-adjacent facilitiesJustia (Code of Alabama) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Ala. Code §45-2-40.02 — massage parlor license required from the county governing body; no dollar fee set in the statuteJustia (Code of Alabama) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Ala. Code §45-2-40.13 — notification, hearing and revocation of a massage-parlor licenseJustia (Code of Alabama) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Wet/Dry county list ('Wet Cities Nov 25') — Baldwin County listed as WetAlabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
Other offices serving Baldwin County
- Baldwin County Probate Office, Licensing Division (Judge of Probate Harry D'Olive Jr.)
- Alabama Department of Public Health, Southwestern District — Baldwin County Health Department, Environmental Services (Food and Lodging Division)
- Baldwin County Building Inspection Department
- Baldwin County Planning & Zoning Department
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
- Restaurants in Baldwin County
- Coffee shops in Baldwin County
- Retail stores in Baldwin County
- Salons and barbers in Baldwin County
- Food trucks in Baldwin County
- Fitness studios in Baldwin County
- Childcare centres in Baldwin County
- Contractors and trades in Baldwin County
- Auto repair shops in Baldwin County
- Veterinary clinics in Baldwin County
Alabama jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.