Dane County, WI Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Chapter 46 folds retail food establishments into the same licensing and inspection scheme as hotels, motels, tourist rooming houses and public pools. Sec. 33(4) bars any operator of a regulated facility, including a restaurant, from operating without a valid permit issued by the county health officer. Sec. 34(4), titled "Fee for operating without a Wisconsin certified food manager," provides that the operator of a restaurant operating without a Wisconsin certified food manager shall pay an additional fee as set forth in the Public Health Madison and Dane County Fee Schedule.

That charge sits alongside the department's other food-establishment fees: sec. 34(1)(c) requires a new or extensively remodeled food establishment to submit equipment layout plans, equipment schedules, detailed descriptions of food processing operations and menus for a plan review, with the review fee scaled to the restaurant's anticipated gross annual food and drink sales; sec. 34(1)(b) adds a reinspection fee, also scaled to gross annual sales, whenever Public Health Madison and Dane County finds a violation on a follow-up visit; and sec. 34(2) layers on a pre-inspection fee tied to anticipated gross annual sales, due before a new establishment opens.

Read together, these sections make the certified-manager fee one piece of a broader per-establishment fee structure the department can assess on top of the base food and drink license, rather than a stand-alone criminal penalty.