Lake County, IL Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Code § 173.04(A) bars operating a food service facility without a Health Officer permit posted on site; the permit cannot be transferred to a new owner. Applicants submit a written application naming the applicant, the location and type of facility, and any other details the Health Officer requires, and pay the fee set in the current schedule adopted under § 178.01, unless the operator is a non-governmental not-for-profit that does not charge for food. Before issuing the permit, the Health Officer may inspect the proposed facility for compliance.

Permit type tracks how the operation runs. A permanent permit covers a fixed location year-round, from January 1 through December 31, and must be renewed annually; a seasonal version covers six months or less within a calendar year. Temporary permits fit mobile-style operations directly: a single-event permit allows up to 14 consecutive days at one public event, celebration, festival or farmers market; a multi-event permit covers single or multiple locations for up to six months without tying to the calendar year; and a farmers' market sales permit, limited to farmers under the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, runs up to one year.

The Health Officer can suspend a permanent permit without prior notice or hearing when the operation poses an imminent public health hazard, requiring the operation to stop immediately, but must then give written notice and a hearing opportunity if the holder requests one within ten days, with the hearing held within 35 days. Temporary permits can be suspended the same way, and also for false or inaccurate information submitted about food source, storage or the commissary used. Revocation requires a prior hearing opportunity and applies to repeated time-temperature, handwashing or cross-contamination violations, interference with the Health Officer, or failure to correct an imminent hazard; a revoked holder may reapply under § 173.04(A) once the revocation becomes final.