This is the 2022 Transporter Application Questions and Answers (Q&A), which is a compilation of previous questions and answers relating to the 2020 Transporter Application that are also relevant to the 2022 Application. If any discrepancy exists between this Q&A and other documents provided by the Department regarding the 2020 application, the information in this document is controlling. The Application can be found here.
Additional questions may be submitted to: AGR.AdultUse@illinois.gov. Please put "2022 Transporter Application Question" in the subject line. Questions must be received no later than 12:00pm on April 3 to be answered.
At its discretion, the Department may add additional information to this Q&A page based on questions it receives from applicants. The Department will not (1) add questions if they are already contained in this Q&A; (2) post questions that are fact or case specific to certain applicants; or (3) respond to questions via email.
This pageis divided into four main sections: (1) application generally, (2) transporter-specific questions, (3) physical location and zoning, and (4) social equity, residency, and disproportionately impacted areas.
this page was last updated on March 28, 2022 - questions 17-19 in Section I
All submitted materials should be readable and in a pdf format. Single or double-spaced materials are permitted. Applicants should follow application instructions and exhibit descriptions regarding page limits and file types.
No. When completing the application, applicants should not cross-reference sections and exhibits. Each section and exhibit should "stand alone" and contain all information the applicant desires to submit.
All principal officers, board members, and agents. There is a fee for the livescan screening; fees vary by vendor.
Licenses are awarded based on the information in the application. Licensees are required to notify the Department of any material change.
Anyone authorized to sign on behalf of the Applicant; the Statement is binding on the Applicant as a whole, not just the signatory.
No. If awarded a license, the ISP will review the licensee’s security plan
Yes. See 8 IAC 1300.540 for further details.
Letters of support from communities, elected officials, or other prominent persons will not impact an applicant’s score and should not be submitted with the application.
Yes, when discussing non-cannabis products. Applicants should not name any contractors, vendors, suppliers, or supporters. Applicants should be mindful that licenses are awarded based on the information provided in the application and that any variation from that information will require the licensee to apply for a modification and/or alteration and pay the requisite fees, as provided for in the Department’s administrative rules.
Anonymous means the person scoring the application must not be able identify the applicant or any of the applicant’s principal officers. To ensure anonymity, all identifying personal information (i.e., names, addresses, specific business names, etc.) should be removed. Applicants should substitute actual business names with generic terms such as "the craft grower," "the company," or a similar term.
No. Applications must meet the security requirements of the Act and administrative rules
The Department has created a chart of reference citations for each Exhibit in the application; it is at the bottom of this page.
If you reside outside of Illinois and are unable to have your fingerprints taken by an Illinois licensed fingerprint vendor, you may have your fingerprints taken by an out-of-state agency or vendor such as a local police department. Once the fingerprints have been taken, you will need to mail them to an Illinois licensed vendor to be scanned. If you intend to have your fingerprints taken by an out-of-state agency or vendor, please follow the steps below:
There are 21 adult use cultivation centers. 40 craft grower licenses and 32 infuser licenses have been issued; not all of those are operational at this time. A list of all craft grower, infuser, and transporter licensees is available at this link. A list of adult use cultivation centers is available at this link. The Department may issue up to 60 additional craft grow licenses later this year; the Department is currently prohibited by court order from issuing those licenses. See the December 21, 2021 License Award update posted on the Adult Use Cannabis webpage for more information.
No; please see the application instructions for further details about submission.
If you are using the same exhibit content and only changing the letter, please note that on the cover sheet. It does not need to be resubmitted as an entire exhibit
That Exhibit is not part of the 2022 application and should not be included. Any Exhibit that was included in the 2020 application that is not part of the 2022 application should not be included with the 2022 application submission.
back to top back to topNo. Transporters are not permitted to deliver cannabis or cannabis-infused products to retail customers. As prescribed by 8 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.500(c) and 410 ILCS 705/40-25(b), a transporter may not transport cannabis or cannabis-infused products to any person other than a cultivation center, a craft grower, an infuser, a dispensing organization, a testing facility, or as otherwise authorized by rule.
A CDL is not required. Transporters may not use commercial motor vehicles with a weight rating of over 10,001 pounds.
Licensees are not required to own the vehicles used for transporting cannabis.
Applicants are not expressly required to own their vehicles at the time of application. However, applicants are required to submit the number and type (make, year, and model) of equipment the transporter intends to use to transport cannabis and cannabis-infused products.
No. A transporter license allows the licensee to transport cannabis or cannabis-infused products but does not permit for storage or product holding, outside of the transportation time
Cannabis must be transported in a cannabis container, as defined in the Act. All transportation activities must be conducted in a safe manner in compliance with the Act, the administrative rules, and any other applicable statutes.
The Act and administrative rules do not contain an exclusive use restriction on transporter vehicle use.
The Act and administrative rules do not contain an "agent-in-charge" requirement for transporters.
The Act and administrative rules do not define the hours of operation for a transporter.
A transporter shall not transport cannabis until it is first packed in a cannabis container by the shipping establishment. 8 IAC 1300.595(a)(3)
Yes. The Department’s administrative rules contain requirements for licensees relating to security cameras and also require that the unloading/loading of cannabis take place in an enclosed, secure area out of public sight.
The Act does not include a deadline for a Transporter to commence operations.
Separate applications do not need to be completed for each location, but each location must be disclosed in the application and meet all of the requirements in the Act and rules.
back to top back to topNo. Additional points will not be awarded based on the location of the applicant’s facility.
All facilities must be in compliance with the requirements and restrictions of the Act and the Department’s administrative rules. Applicants should address all questions about building code or other zoning requirements to their local zoning authority.
There are no setback restrictions for schools or churches in the Act or the Department’s rules or the Act. Applicants are responsible for determining local zoning requirements and complying with them.
Lineal feet based on the outer perimeter of the property line
back to top back to topNo. The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act only made offenses committed in Illinois eligible to be expunged. As such, offenses committed in other states cannot be used to qualify an applicant as a Social Equity Applicant.
Examples of records could include, but are not limited to, income tax forms, court records, insurance forms, bank statements, pension payments, records from public assistance agencies, school records, birth certificates, official government correspondence, or other government records. In the event of a name change, applicants should provide the court records or other government documents documenting that name change.
Applicants must show that they lived in a Disproportionately Impacted Area for 60 months. The 60 months do not need to be consecutive.
An applicant who resided in a Disproportionately Impacted Area but was homeless for some or all of the relevant time period may provide a signed Homeless Status Verification form provided by the Illinois Secretary of State (available here: https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_a230.pdf) to show they resided in a Disproportionately Impacted Area during that period of time.
Applicants, including veterans or active duty military personnel, may use any residence listed on tax forms submitted to the State of Illinois as their primary residence as evidence of their residence in a Disproportionately Impacted Area. Veterans or active duty military personnel will not be disadvantaged by time spent away from their primary residence due to their military service.
To demonstrate evidence as a Social Equity Applicant through employment, applicants must submit something more than a mere statement of qualification. Applicants should submit sufficient records to establish the employees as meeting social equity criteria and to establish their employment with applicant. Examples of such records include, but are not limited to, W-2 and/or W-4 forms, pay stubs, New Hire Reporting Forms submitted to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, payroll records, residency records, income tax forms, court records and disposition papers, utility bills, insurance forms, bank statements, pension payments, records from public assistance agencies, court records, government records and school records.
"Full-time employee" means an individual for whom a W-2 is issued by the applicant and is employed for a basic wage for at least 35 hours each week. "Basic Wage" means compensation for employment that is no less than the legal minimum wage of the jurisdiction in which the person is employed. Salary shall consist of all basic wage compensation not including overtime pay, bonus pay, stock options, awards or any other equity-based incentive, unreimbursed employee expenses or piecemeal rate of pay, or any form of deferred compensation. 10.
No, the employees do not all need to be Illinois residents. The applicant must be an Illinois resident but there is no residency requirement for employees.
Two of the following: (A) a signed lease agreement that includes the applicant's name; (B) a property deed that includes the applicant's name; (C) school records; (D) a voter registration card; (E) an Illinois driver's license, an Illinois Identification Card, or an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card; (F) a paycheck stub; (G) a utility bill; and (H) tax records
A record of the arrest, conviction, or adjudication from the responsible legal authority. One example of a document that may demonstrate a Principal Officer was arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for an offense that is eligible for expungement pursuant to the Act is a "disposition paper" from the court in the applicable jurisdiction. Applicants that have had their cannabis arrest expunged in the past may: (1) provide a court record showing that an expungement was granted, (2) apply to the circuit court that granted the expungement to unseal the records of the arrest and provide a copy of those records to the Department, or (3) provide any other records that serve as evidence of the prior arrest, conviction, or adjudication. Affidavits from the accused will not be considered sufficient without additional documentation.
Offenses identified in Sections 4 and 5 of the Illinois Cannabis Control Act (720 ILCS 550) that were classified as Class 4 felonies or misdemeanors at the time of the offense are eligible for expungement. None of these crimes are expungable if the offense was associated with a violent crime or a penalty enhancement for selling to a person under the age of 18 if the seller was over the age of 18. Applicants should review whether their offense was charged as a Class 4 felony or any level misdemeanor to verify their eligibility for expungement
Applicants must show that they lived in a Disproportionately Impacted Area for 60 months. The 60 months do not need to be consecutive.
Sufficient proof of residency is the same whether it is for Illinois residency or to establish residency in a DIA. Residency requires two forms of proof per person per year.
Acceptable forms of proof to establish residency (as described in the definition of "resided" in Section 1-10 of the Act) include:
A document such as a driver's license is acceptable proof for each year in which the license is valid. For example, a driver's license that was issued in September 2017 and expires in September 2021 is acceptable as one of the two required forms of proof of residency for 2017, 2018, and 2019. The principal officer(s) needs to provide a second form of proof of residency for 2017 to 2019 and two additional forms of proof of residency for at least two other years during the last 10 years.
To satisfy the criteria for Illinois residency when the applicant is a business entity, such as a corporation or a limited liability company, the applicant must have been incorporated in and doing business in Illinois as of the date the application was submitted. A business entity can demonstrate Illinois residency by submitting the incorporation documents on file with the Illinois Secretary of State's Office. If the business entity was incorporated in another state on the day it submitted its application, the applicant cannot change its state of residency.
Any documents that were expressly listed on the application as acceptable forms of proof of residency remain acceptable throughout the entire review process, including responses to deficiency notices.
Property tax payment records are sufficient evidence of residence in a DIA for the applicable tax payment period, regardless of the date of payment.
A Notice of Foreclosure is sufficient evidence of residence in a DIA during the year of the Notice of Foreclosure.
A Form IL-1040-X is sufficient evidence of residence in a DIA for the applicable tax payment period, regardless of the date filing or the date of the amendment.
Reference Citation Chart
410 ILCS 705/1-10 – definition of "cannabis container"
410 ILCS 705/40-10(a)(11), (12), (15)
8 IAC 1300.510(d)(11), (12), (15)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(1)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(1)
410 ILCS 705/40-10(a)(6), (9), (10), (13)
8 IAC 1300.510(d)(6), (9), (10), (13)
410 ILCS 705/40-10(a)(6)
8 IAC 1300.510(d)(6)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(3)
8 IAC 1300.580(a), (b)
8 IAC 1300.595(a)(5), (13)
410 ILCS 705/40-10(a)(6)
8 IAC 1300.510(d)(6)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(3)
8 IAC 1300.595(a)(4)
410 ILCS 705/1-10 – definitions of "disproportionately impacted area", "member of an impacted family", "qualified social equity applicant", "social equity applicant" "resided"
8 IAC 1300.10 – definitions of "impacted family", "qualified social equity applicant", "social equity applicant"
410 ILCS 705/40-15(a)(4)
8 IAC 1300.510(d)(16)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(4)
2 forms of proof of residency, per person, per year, are required. Acceptable forms of proof of residency include: tax records- a copy of pages 1 and 2 of the person’s IL-1040 tax return with page 2 signed by the person; a signed lease agreement that includes the applicant's name; a property deed that includes the applicant's name; school records; a voter registration card; an Illinois driver's license, an Illinois Identification Card, or an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card; a paycheck stub; or a utility bill.
410 ILCS 705/1-10 – definition of "labor peace agreement"
410 ILCS 705/40-15(a)(5)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(5)
8 IAC 1300.510(d)(9)
410 ILCS 705/40-15(a)(6)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(6)
410 ILCS 705/40-15(a)(6)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(6)
410 ILCS 705/1-10 – definitions of "primary residence", "resided"
410 ILCS 705/40-15(a)(7)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(7)
A person may demonstrate residency in the State of Illinois by providing for each of the past 5 years either:
(1) Tax records for each of the past 5 years - a copy of pages 1 and 2 of the person’s IL-1040 tax return with page 2 signed by the person,
(2) Two or more of the following for each of the past 5 years: a signed lease agreement that includes the applicant's name; property deed that includes the applicant's name; school records; voter registration card; an Illinois driver's license, an Illinois Identification Card, or an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card; a paycheck stub; or a utility bill.
A person may submit a combination of tax returns and other documentation identified above, but must provide sufficient documentation for each of the past five years. For example, a person may choose to submit tax forms for 2017 and 2019, and two forms of other documentation for years 2015, 2016, and 2018.
410 ILCS 705/40-15(a)(8)
8 IAC 1300.520(a)(8)
8 IAC 1300.10 – definition of "veteran"