Model of origin licensing dynamics in intestinal epithelial cells. In a normal cell cycle, the Mcm cells are expressed ubiquitously in all stages. The licensing of DNA with MCM2–7 occurs in late M and throughout G_1, when a cell receives a stimulus to commit to the cell cycle. As DNA is replicated during the S phase, MCM2–7 are displaced from DNA and are prevented from relicensing in G₂. During terminal differentiation, MCM2–7 are not actively transcribed, and the proteins are gradually lost in postmitotic cells. However, after the final mitotic division, cells make a binary decision never to license their DNA, even though the protein is still present. Mcm proteins then degrade slowly, where cells enter a terminally differentiated state (deep G₀). Alternatively, cells can exit mitosis, not relicense their DNA but maintain proliferative markers, and disengage from the cell cycle for some time (unlicensed G₁). Two major classes of intestinal stem cells exist: “active” stem cells, engaged with the cell cycle, and reserve, quiescent LRCs. LRCs are in a state of “deep” quiescence and do not contain MCM2–7 because they have disengaged from the cell cycle for some time. In this study, we show that most active Lgr5⁺ stem cells reside in an unlicensed state but contain MCM2–7 proteins. These cells reside in an unlicensed G₁ phase until they make a proliferative-fate decision, enter the cell cycle, and license. This provides an explanation for the elongated cell cycle of intestinal stem cells; they reside in a partial resting state in which they may be able to respond to niche cues to divide. This, therefore, may constitute a unique mechanism to control stem cell numbers.