What permits do you need to open a food truck in Hamilton County In?

Mobile Food Establishment Permit (Hamilton County Health Department)

Hamilton County Code 16-20-8-1 defines a food establishment to include a "vehicle of transportation" used for handling food, so a food truck operating in Hamilton County needs the county health officer's permit under 16-20-8-2, which runs for the calendar year from January 1 (or the start of operation) to December 31 and is applied for annually. As set in Hamilton County Code 16-20-1-27, Health department fees (Ord. 10-14-24-B, 10-14-2024, effective January 1, 2025; Ord. 06-09-2025-A, 6-9-2025), as codified on Municode, the mobile permit costs $75 per vehicle for prepackaged foods only and $125 per vehicle for a unit that prepares or serves ready-to-eat foods; the Health Department's mobile application form (December 2024) states the same "$125 fee for prepare and serve or $75 fee for prepackaged only". The form also asks for a plan review packet, a commissary agreement and a certified food protection manager certificate, and says to allow 30 days for plan review. It tells operators: "You must contact the municipality (city or town) in which you will be operating your mobile to find out if an additional mobile permit is needed." The general late charge of 25% of outstanding fees and the half fee for a first opening on or after September 1 also apply under 16-20-1-27(d).

Certified Food Protection Manager

No state fee — Indiana recognises accredited exam providers rather than certifying anyone itself, and the price is theirs. Every food establishment must have at least one certified manager responsible for all its operating hours, though that person need not be present throughout. Certificates last five years and working on an expired one is prohibited outright, at up to fifty dollars a day. Indiana Code chapter 16-42-5.2 sets no general food handler card — the one statutory food handler certificate is the one section 16-42-5.3-7 requires of home based vendors — and section 16-42-5.2-1 bars a local health department from imposing any registration, certification or licensing requirement on food handlers or certified managers, so a city cannot invent its own. The exemptions are wide — no raw animal cooking, heat-and-serve only, continental breakfast, drinks and ice, low-hazard items, hospitals and certain food pantries.

Shared with other businesses in Hamilton County In

• Temporary and Annual Temporary Food Establishment Permits (Hamilton County Health Department) — Hamilton County Health Department, Temporary food establishment permit: $30 for the first day + $15 each additional consecutive day; applications received less than three days before the event start: $20 in addition to the temporary permit fee. Annual temporary permit: $125. Late charges are not assessed on annual temporary permits., temporary permit: one continuous operation with an event or celebration of no more than 14 consecutive days (County Code 16-20-8-2(b)(1)); annual temporary permit: the calendar year. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Retail Food Establishment Permit — Indiana Department of Health, Food Protection Division, $300–$1,690 a year, set by the local health department — there is no state fee, annual. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.