St. Joseph County, IN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)
Key Facts
- Right-of-way ban
- No sales on public roadways or ROW (§ 110.20)
- Sidewalks included
- County-road sidewalks count as right-of-way
- Buyer-side ban
- Roadside-purchase parking also prohibited (§ 110.22)
- Applies to
- Licensed and unlicensed vendors alike
- Bond risk
- Transient merchant bond forfeitable (§ 110.99(B))
- Penalty
- General Section 10.99 fine (§ 110.99(A))
Summary
St. Joseph County outlaws selling food, produce or any other merchandise on or along public roadways and within public rights-of-way anywhere in the county under Section 110.20. That covers sidewalks running alongside county roads, so a food truck or cart cannot set up on the shoulder, sidewalk or road edge itself. A related section separately bars anyone from parking along a roadway right-of-way just to shop from a roadside seller.
§ 110.20. Sales within public right-of-way prohibited. No person shall sell produce or merchandise on or along the public roadways and within the public rights-of-way in the county. § 110.22. Parking in public right-of-way prohibited when. No person shall park on or along any public roadway and within the public right-of-way in the county for the purpose of shopping or purchasing produce or merchandise from any person who is selling in the open, from a truck or from a roadside stand along any public roadway or right-of-way in the county.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 3).
Full Breakdown
20 reads simply and absolutely: no person shall sell produce or merchandise on or along the public roadways and within the public rights-of-way in the county. 08, so holding a transient merchant license does not create an exception; the ban on selling in the right-of-way applies to anyone, licensed or not, including a food truck or sidewalk cart operator who parks on the shoulder, the sidewalk, or the road edge itself to make sales. 22 backs the ban up from the buyer's side: no person may park on or along a public roadway or within its right-of-way for the purpose of shopping or purchasing from someone selling in the open, from a truck, or from a roadside stand along that roadway.
Read together, the two sections make curbside and sidewalk food sales along a county road a dead end on both sides of the transaction. 21's off-street parking requirement for roadside sales takes over. 08.
Violations & Fines
A sidewalk or right-of-way sales violation defaults to the general penalty in Section 10.99 since Chapter 110 does not set its own fine for Section 110.20 specifically, so it is enforced as a county ordinance violation carrying a fine from the schedule of fines and fees. A licensed transient merchant caught selling from the right-of-way faces that fine plus forfeiture of the surety bond posted with the license application, on top of a Class B infraction charge under Section 110.07.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a food truck park on the sidewalk to sell food?
Is it illegal to buy from a roadside vendor parked on the shoulder?
What happens if a licensed vendor sells from the right-of-way anyway?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in St. Joseph County
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