Jefferson County, MO Public Health Rules: Restaurant Grade Cards (2026)

, which lets county commissions and health boards regulate to protect public health so long as their rules do not conflict with state Department of Health regulations. 025, in charge of inspecting food establishments and issuing, closing, suspending or revoking their permits. 040 requires every food establishment to obtain, and post in public view, an annual County food and beverage permit and pay the required cost reimbursement charge, which is set by establishment size or type on a schedule the Health Center publishes and which the Chapter states is never refundable.

An operating establishment receives its renewal permit only after the Health Center inspects it, following the renewal application and before the old permit expires, and finds it meets minimum sanitary requirements, and after the operator pays the annual charge. New owners and new establishments must apply before opening business, and the Health Center then schedules the required inspection. 050 lets an applicant denied a permit, or an operator whose permit is revoked, petition for a hearing under the JCHC Food R&R. There is no county letter-grade or numeric-score placard system in this Chapter: compliance is shown by the posted permit itself, not a scored card.