Montana — statewide
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Environmental Health and Food Safety Section
In short
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Environmental Health and Food Safety Section issues 2 permits we publish for Montana — statewide, last verified 2026-09-04. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Food Protection Manageronly if it applies to you | Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Environmental Health and Food Safety Section | No fee | set by the accrediting programme | 2026-09-04 |
| Retail Food Establishment License | Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Environmental Health and Food Safety Section | $150–$275 a year, banded by peak employee count | annual — renew before 31 December | 2026-09-04 |
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
Certified Food Protection Manager
No state fee — the health department's own training page states plainly that only food manager certification is required by the state, purchased from an ANSI-CFP accredited provider at that provider's own price. There is no separate general food handler card requirement layered on top. A low-risk establishment, and certain temporary establishments conducting specific limited activities, are exempt from needing a certified manager at all under the state's own published exemption criteria.
Retail Food Establishment License
This fee schedule is genuinely new, rebuilt by a 2025 law after sixteen years unchanged: $150 for a small establishment with no more than two employees at peak, $225 for a medium one with three to nine, and $275 for ten or more. A mobile food establishment follows a two-tier version of the same idea, $150 small and $225 large. A late fee of $25 applies on top if renewal is not paid before the current license expires. The state's own application form still circulating online has not caught up with this change and still quotes the old $85 and $115 figures — the current statute and the department's own fee notice control instead. Ninety per cent of the fee is passed through to fund local health department inspections, which is why many Montana counties handle the on-the-ground inspection even though the state issues the license.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Montana — statewide
- Phone
- Not verified — use the website
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.
- 50-50-205, Montana Code Annotated — retail food establishment license fees as amended by HB 853Montana Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Montana DPHHS — certified food protection manager exemption guidanceMontana Department of Public Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Montana DPHHS — notice of the new retail food fee structure under House Bill 853Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other Montana statewide offices
- Montana Secretary of State, Business Services Division
- Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists
- Montana Board of Plumbers
- Montana Board of Veterinary Medicine
- Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Business Standards Division, Construction Contractor License Program
- Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Employment Relations Division
- Montana Department of Revenue, Business Tax Unit
- Montana DPHHS, Early Childhood and Family Support Division, Child Care Licensing Program
- Montana State Electrical Board
Montana jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.