Ohio marijuana dispensary bonds.
$1,025 flat.
Ohio conditions a dispensary's certificate of operation on evidence of financial responsibility: an escrow account or a $50,000 surety bond filed with the Division of Cannabis Control under OAC 1301:18-3-08. Ours is $1,025 flat.
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How much does an Ohio marijuana dispensary bond cost?
$1,025 at the $50,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
Three steps. One sitting.
Financial responsibility is the quickest item on a dispensary compliance list, and the only one you can finish in a browser tab. Here's the entire process:
Apply online
Entity details, your county, your dual-use cannabis license number, and an effective date — plus a short set of commercial questions and a one-time consent to a soft credit pull.
Pay & e-sign
Cannabis license bonds like this issue right after purchase for most applicants. Issued when you pay. One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
File with the division
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email. The bond carries your business name and your division-issued license number, and precludes the surety from cancelling it without the division's prior written authorization. Wet-ink original mailed to the address you enter.
What it is and who needs it.
What the dispensary bond actually guarantees
Ohio does not let a dispensary open on a promise. OAC 1301:18-3-08 makes every cannabis licensee carry two things at once: commercial general liability insurance covering products liability, and either an escrow account or a surety bond. For a dispensary the figure is $50,000. The other license types carry their own amounts — $750,000 for a level one cultivator, $75,000 for level two, $250,000 for a processor, $75,000 for a testing laboratory — so the dispensary tier is the smallest in the program, and the only one most retail operators ever file.
The bond is payable to the division if a licensee fails to comply with the chapter's mandates, and its terms are prescribed rather than left to the surety: it has to carry your business name and the license number the division issued, and it must preclude the surety from cancelling without the division's prior written authorization. If your financial responsibility is ever released or cancelled, replacement evidence has to be in front of the division on or before the cancellation date — the rule builds in no grace period, which is why a lapse is a certificate problem and not just a paperwork problem.
The requirement shrinks as you build history. After one full calendar year in operation and in compliance, a dispensary may petition to reduce financial responsibility by $15,000; after two consecutive years, by another $15,000; after three consecutive years, to terminate it altogether. Reduction is not automatic — the division has to approve it — so until it does, the filing stands at the full amount. The same filing applies whether you hold a medical certificate of operation or a dual-use certificate selling both medical and non-medical cannabis.
You need this bond if you're
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the $50,000 bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose; a longer term is the same price per year, chosen at checkout.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the division. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email. The bond carries your business name and your division-issued license number, and precludes the surety from cancelling it without the division's prior written authorization. Wet-ink original mailed to the address you enter.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $1,025 at the $50,000 amount for every applicant: the carrier’s rate book prices this bond by the form, not by your credit or your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields, including your dual-use cannabis license number and a one-time consent to a soft credit pull that never affects your score.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Ohio bonds.
Been told you need a different amount?
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Get the division filing off your list.
$1,025 flat, soft pull only, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.