Howard County
Howard County Board of License Commissioners (County Council, ex officio)
In short
Howard County Board of License Commissioners (County Council, ex officio) issues 1 permit we publish for Howard County, last verified 2026-10-02. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcoholic Beverage License (Board of License Commissioners)only if it applies to you | Howard County Board of License Commissioners (County Council, ex officio) | Current fees under Liquor Board Rules, Chapter VIII, Rule 8.02 (revision effective July 1, 2026): Class A Beer $150, Class A Beer & Light Wine $175, Class A-1 (7-day) Beer/Wine/Liquor $900, Class A-2 (6-day) $700, Class A Winery (Light Wine) $50 — range $50-$900. Class B (restaurant): Beer $150, Beer & Light Wine $175, Beer/Wine/Liquor $1,000, Luxury Restaurant (BLX) $2,000 — range $150-$2,000. Class C (clubs/conference centers): Veterans Clubs (Beer only) $25, Clubs Beer & Light Wine $150, Continuing Care Retirement Community $250, 7-day Beer/Wine/Liquor $250, Beer/Wine/Liquor (§23-1007) $250, Affiliate of Int'l Org. of Police Officers $500, Conference Center Beer/Wine/Liquor $700, Country Clubs Beer/Wine/Liquor $1,500 — range $25-$1,500. Class D (tavern): Beer $150, Beer & Light Wine $175, Beer/Wine/Liquor $600-$1,000 by days/premises. Class GC Golf Course $350-$1,500. Marketplace License $6,000 (plus $500 for live entertainment, plus $200 for outdoor table service). Shopping Mall Plaza License $4,000. Application/hearing fee $270 (Rule 2.04). License transfer $20, administrative change $5 (Rules 8.05-8.06, Alcoholic Beverages Article §4-305). | annual (varies by license class); application/hearing, transfer and administrative-change fees are one-time | 2026-10-02 |
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
Alcoholic Beverage License (Board of License Commissioners)
A restaurant or retail store that sells or serves alcohol in Howard County needs a license from the Board of License Commissioners, on which Howard County's five Council members sit ex officio, with a separately appointed Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board handling most hearings by delegation. This record cites the current Liquor Board Rules revision, effective July 1, 2026, which superseded a copy dated 7/27/2022 and added a Class MT (Movie Theater) license and a Gift Basket Permit not present in the earlier version; the dollar figures for the pre-existing classes are unchanged between the two revisions. The Class C family (clubs and conference centers) ranges from $25, for a Veterans Club licensed for beer only, up to $1,500 for a Country Club holding a full Beer/Wine/Liquor license — $150 is the fee for only one Class C subtype (Clubs, Beer & Light Wine), not the bottom of the range. A restaurant fits the Class B family most directly; a retail store selling packaged alcohol fits Class A. An application or hearing fee of $270 applies on top of the license fee itself, except for most temporary or special licenses unless a hearing is required.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Howard County
- Phone
- 410-313-2001
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.
- Howard County Liquor Board Rules, current revision effective July 1, 2026 (Chapter VIII fee table)Howard County Board of License Commissioners · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
- Howard County Liquor License pageHoward County Council / Board of License Commissioners · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
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