York County, VA Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Section 12-19 of the York County Code makes it unlawful for any employee lacking a valid food handler's permit to work in a restaurant. The health officer issues the permit after the applicant furnishes required information and laboratory specimens, submits to any physical examination or tests the health officer requires, and receives instruction on personal hygiene and restaurant sanitation. A new employee has thirty days from the start of employment in the county to secure the permit, and once issued, the permit stays valid for six months unless the health officer revokes it for cause before then; the health officer can also issue a temporary permit for a specific number of days while an application is pending.

This sits within Article II of Chapter 12, which separately requires every restaurant itself to hold an operating permit under Section 12-17, conspicuously posted, valid through the following January 1; the health officer can revoke that restaurant permit for a violation of the chapter and must notify the sheriff in writing, after which the sheriff closes and padlocks the restaurant until the permit is reinstated. Section 12-20 layers on a related duty: an owner, manager or employee must immediately notify the health officer if anyone in the household of restaurant personnel contracts an infectious or communicable disease, has a fever, a skin eruption or a cough lasting more than three weeks.

Section 12-2 assigns enforcement of the whole chapter to the health officer, and Section 12-3 sets the general penalty: any violation is a Class 4 misdemeanor, with each day of continued violation treated as a separate offense.