Kennewick, WA Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

16, "Food Establishments," folds Kennewick's local food safety rules into the state and county public health system rather than running a separate city inspection program. 180, as the substantive standards for the chapter except where Kennewick's own sections say otherwise. 030 sets the two permit requirements that actually govern day-to-day operation: it is unlawful to operate a food service establishment without an unrevoked permit issued by the Benton-Franklin Health Department, and it is separately unlawful to be employed, or to employ anyone, as a food and beverage service worker without that individual holding their own Health Department permit.

That second clause is the city's food handler card requirement, enforced through the county health district rather than a city license office. 05, the state's local health department statute. Because enforcement sits with the health district, a restaurant or food truck operating in Kennewick without current permits for both the establishment and its food handlers is out of compliance with both the state-adopted food code and the city ordinance requiring the permit itself, and the two threads, the state substantive standard and the city permit mandate, are enforced together as a single chapter under the Benton-Franklin Health Department's authority.