Department of Liquor Licenses and Control
About DLLC
Our Mission
To vigilantly promote the health, safety and welfare of Arizona citizens by licensing the liquor industry and assuring compliance with state liquor laws through collaboration, training, adjudication and enforcement.
The Department
The Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (DLLC), authorized by Arizona Revised Statutes Title 4, employs law enforcement, licensing, auditing, education, publicity, and communication to meet our mission-critical objectives. Our dedicated civilian and sworn law enforcement staff along with community and statewide stakeholders-partners, carry out much of this work.
DLLC is responsible for reviewing state liquor applications and issuing more than 250 new and 600 renewal licenses every month. In Arizona, 17 different license types provide for the legal production, sale and/or service of liquor at locations which include airplanes, trains, watercraft, restaurants, liquor stores and other retailers, hotels, bars, distillers, distributors, and special events. The department is organized in three divisions:
The Administration Division
provides daily departmental operations including budget and finance, compliance, liquor license auditing and personnel.
The Compliance Unit
governs the dispute-resolution process to offer an alternative, when appropriate, to the more costly and time-consuming formal hearing process. The mandate of the Compliance Officer is to arbitrate cases and attempt a fair resolution.
The Audit Unit
reviews liquor licensed establishments including hotel/motel with restaurant (series 11) and restaurant (series 12) to ensure they maintain a 40:60 food-to-liquor sales ratio required by Title 4.
distributes fees collected by DLLC to the state’s General Fund and other state agencies including The Department's of Health Services, Public Safety and Economic Security.
The Licensing Division
issues, transfers, renew and audits the various types of licenses. These procedures involve meeting with the applicants and assisting them with the application forms, answering questions about the licensing process, fees, notarization, and audits.
The Investigations Division
is responsible to ensure that all licensees state wide adhere to A.R.S. Title 4 and all rules promulgated by the Department. These responsibilities include training and assisting local law enforcement communities; contact with licensees through random routine license inspections; investigate and process all complaints received; provide background checks on applicants for liquor licenses; cooperate with the Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement agencies on covert and underage buy programs; research and respond to inquiries from manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers and provide law enforcement trained speakers for various industry functions upon request.
Please feel free to contact us by phone, email or mail with any concerns not sufficiently addressed by our website. In our effort to constantly improve, we appreciate any feedback, constructively offered about our staff, our services, or processes.
The Arizona Liquor Board
The History of Liquor In Arizona