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

Cereal Malt Beverage Retailer License and Special Event Permit (unincorporated Shawnee County)

A restaurant, coffee shop, store or food vendor selling cereal malt beverages at a place of business in unincorporated Shawnee County applies to the Board of County Commissioners through the County Clerk's office (Shawnee County Code §4-26). The County Clerk's Licenses page states that its cereal malt beverage information "is for those businesses located in the rural parts of Shawnee County. Any place of business within the corporate limits of any city should contact that City Clerk." Under §4-25 (Charter Resolution No. 1987-2) the county is exempt from the fee provisions of K.S.A. 41-2702(d) and (g) and the Board sets its own fees. Section 4-26(4) sets them at $50 per calendar year for a license to sell in original and unopened containers, not for consumption on the premises, $200 per calendar year for a license for consumption on the premises, and $50 for a special event retailer permit. The full license fee is due whatever the month of application, and the license covers only the rest of that calendar year (§4-26(5)). No more than four special event permits are issued to one applicant in a calendar year, each for no more than 30 calendar days. Resolution No. 2025-66, adopted September 8, 2025, provides that from September 1, 2025 each licensee or special event permit holder must also buy a $25 state CMB stamp from the Kansas Department of Revenue to affix to the license or permit; that $25 is a state fee, not a county one. The County Counselor's memorandum on the resolution explains that the 2025 Legislature amended K.S.A. 41-2702(e) to move the stamp to the Department of Revenue. A business inside a city applies to that city.

Food Establishment License

Statute sets these as ceilings rather than fixed points — up to $250 a year for a facility under 5,000 square feet, up to $300 from 5,000 to under 10,000, up to $500 from 10,000 to under 50,000, and up to $750 for anything larger, on top of a one-time application fee capped at $350. What the agriculture department actually charges could sit anywhere at or below those figures. The department may contract with a city or county to carry out inspection and enforcement on its behalf, and where it does, the law forbids that local government from charging its own separate fee for the same service — so a delegated inspection does not mean a second bill.

Shared with other businesses in Shawnee County

• Certified Food Protection Manager (optional, not mandatory) — Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety and Lodging, No fee, not applicable. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.