Jackson, TN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Municipal Code § 9-106 requires every transient vendor and mobile food unit operating in the City of Jackson to carry, and produce on demand to a police officer, revenue officer, or anyone in the city revenue department, a valid peddler's/solicitor's permit and business license. A mobile food unit must also have the written permission of the private property owner, or whoever controls the property, for the specific spot where it is conducting business. That permit comes out of the same peddler and solicitor process in §§ 9-103 and 9-104: a sworn application to the city recorder, a $200.00 nonrefundable fee, and review by the police chief covering the truthfulness of the application, sex-offender and court-order status, valid driver's license for any vehicle used, and any disqualifying felony conviction within the past ten years.

Section 9-104(1)(k) adds a mobile-food-specific step: the planning department must separately approve a mobile food unit for each location where it will do business, on top of the recorder's and police chief's sign-off on the underlying permit. Because the permit is tied to the peddler and solicitor chapter, it runs for up to one year and renews annually for another $200.00 fee under § 9-108, and the city recorder or city council can suspend or revoke it for false statements or violations of the chapter under § 9-107.