Food and Facilities Licensing
The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, through Licensure and Regulatory Services, licenses and inspects, under both county and state regulations, facilities such as assisted living facilities; group homes; food service facilities (including restaurants, grocery stores, bars, mobile food trucks, and bed and breakfasts); facilities offering bingo, raffles and amusements; massage establishments; swimming pools; tanning facilities; transient lodging; and video game facilities.
Licensure and Regulatory Services is made up of three units:
Environmental Health
This unit enforces the regulations associated with the operation of all licensed food service facilities. This includes routine and complaint investigations, food-borne disease outbreak investigations (with the Disease Control Office), plan review for public pools and food service facilities, and emergency response at licensed facilities. Staff conduct educational seminars for licensees and issue periodic newsletters. This unit also enforces Montgomery County's smoking, trans fat and menu labeling laws, as well as regulations related to the control of rats.
This unit consists of Environmental Health Specialists who perform complex inspections and investigations of public facilities to enforce the regulatory standards associated with the operation of all licensed facilities. The investigators work in assigned areas of the county and schedule and conduct on-site inspections and investigations of construction and operating standards in facilities and institutions, such as restaurants: markets: bakeries; nursing homes; group residential homes; public and private schools; tanning salons; and public swimming pools, for the purpose of identifying public health and safety hazards.