How to Fill Out the Winnebago County Mobile Food Vendor Application (Field by Field, 2026)

This walks the actual Winnebago County Health Department form, field by field. For the city licence, the right-of-way permit and the fire inspection that sit on top of it, start with the Rockford food truck permit guide. For the statewide picture, see how to start a food truck business in Illinois.

The health permit for a Rockford food truck comes from the Winnebago County Health Department (WCHD), not from the City of Rockford. The paperwork is one two-page fillable PDF: page 1 is the Application for Mobile Food Vendor Permit, and page 2 is a Licensed Commissary Sharing Agreement that you add only if your commissary belongs to someone else. The form has not been updated since the county board adopted a new Food Code on March 26, 2026, and the fees changed with it, so the cost section below gives both sets of figures.

Step 1 — Pick your risk class before you fill anything in

Your risk class sets the fee and the permit year, and the form asks for it in the middle of page 1. The definitions are printed on the form:

A truck that cooks, or holds food hot or cold, is Risk 2M. A truck or cart selling only sealed, prepackaged items is Risk 1M on the form. The 2026 Food Code, though, gives the lower Category III fee only to door-to-door sales units; it says every other vehicle-mounted food service unit needs a Category II permit ($575.44), so a prepackaged-only truck that parks and sells should budget for Category II and confirm with WCHD. The county Food Code limits a pushcart to non-potentially hazardous foods, commissary-wrapped food kept at proper temperatures, or hot dogs and corn on the cob.

The form also prints three rules under its header: permits are non-transferable, seasonal units are not prorated, and the fee is per unit, so two trucks pay twice.

Step 2 — Page 1: establishment, owner and commissary

The form is a fillable PDF with 110 fields, so you can type into it. Its footer reads EH228168EXAPP | REV12092022.

Establishment Name, Phone Number, Fax Number, Address, City, State, Zip Code. The business as customers know it. For a truck, the address is usually your business address, since the unit moves.

Mailing Address (with its own city, state and zip), Email and Website. The permit and renewal paperwork go to the mailing address, so use one you check.

Owner(s), Owner's Phone, Home Address. The person or people who own the business. The form adds a note: if a corporation, include names and addresses of the corporate officers on a separate sheet of paper. An LLC or corporation that leaves this sheet out is sending an incomplete application.

Commissary Name, Phone Number, Fax Number, Address. The kitchen you work from. The county's Food Code says a mobile food unit operates from a commissary for cooking, obtaining water, food and supplies, emptying and disposing of wastes, and cleaning the unit. If the commissary is not yours, page 2 is required as well (Step 4).

Full Time Certified Manager Name, Certificate Number, Expiration Date. Copy them from your certificate. The form's submission note says a copy of a valid Illinois Food Service Sanitation Manager's Certificate must be submitted for vendors with a high or medium risk permit, which includes every Risk 2M truck. The CFPM certificate guide covers how to get one.

Step 3 — Page 1: risk class, vehicle, season and signature

Type of Mobile Vendor Unit. The form defines a mobile vendor as selling food off trucks, trailers, or push carts, and repeats that vendors must document an approved commissary: a permit will not be issued without an approved commissary. Tick Risk 1M or Risk 2M from Step 1.

Vehicle Type. One tick: Vehicle or Trailer, each with Factory ID/VIN and License Plate, or Push Cart with a Factory ID/VIN only. Copy the VIN from the title or registration, not from memory. Because the permit is non-transferable, a replacement truck needs a new application.

Operation schedule. Tick Operates Year Round, or Operates Seasonally with a Season Opening Date and Season Closing Date. The form adds that December and January late fees do not apply to seasonal operations. That line describes the old late-fee rules; the 2026 Food Code sets its late fees by days after the permit expires instead (Step 6).

Applicant's Signature and Date. By signing you state that you are familiar with the provisions of the Health Ordinance of Winnebago County and will operate in compliance with them at all times. The ordinance is now the 2026 Food Code, which adopts the 2022 FDA Food Code.

The box marked For Office Use Only (sanitarian signature, amount received, prorated/late fee, payment method, receipt number, permit number) stays blank.

Step 4 — Page 2: the Licensed Commissary Sharing Agreement

The county's permits page says it plainly: if you use a commissary under different ownership, the second page must also be completed and submitted with the application. A restaurant kitchen you rent time in is the usual case. The page is written for temporary food establishments (TFEs) and mobile units alike, which is why it says "TFE" throughout.

Restaurant Information. Restaurant/Organization Name, Owner/Person in Charge, address, business phone, fax, owner's phone and email. Then days of week the TFE is approved to utilize the kitchen, Sunday through Saturday, with hours for each day ticked.

Liability Statement. The restaurant owner signs that their food establishment and your unit are jointly and severally liable for any violations of the Winnebago County Food Code that occur while you use the facility. Expect a restaurant to ask questions before signing this; it is a real liability for them.

Temporary Food Establishment Information. Your side: Food Permit Number, Location(s), Days and Hours of Operation (the boxes run Monday to Saturday), the start and end time for each point of sale location, then business name, owner, address, phone, fax, email and website.

Commissary facilities. Tick what you can use: Handwashing Sink(s), Dish Washing Facility, Food Preparation Sink, Mop Sink, Commercial Refrigeration Space, Preparation Table, Freezer Space, Cooking Equipment. The footnotes are the rules the inspector checks:

• hand sinks are required in all food preparation and dishwashing areas;
• the dishwashing facility must be a 3 or 4 compartment utensil sink or a chemical or high-temperature dish machine;
• a commercial food preparation sink is required if the commissary has no commercial 3 or 4 compartment sink;
• a mop sink is required for all commissaries.

The terms. You must have access to the kitchen if your hours run past the restaurant's; you are responsible for correcting violations on your own equipment and on shared equipment; you must notify WCHD of any change; and the agreement is not transferable. You sign and date it, and the health inspector approves it in the office-use line.

The note beside the submission box adds that units using a commissary under different ownership must submit this form yearly, or obtain a Temporary Food Establishment Commissary (TFEC) permit. Under the 2026 Food Code, a sharing agreement with a Category I (high-risk) facility requires that separate commissary permit. A vendor based outside Winnebago County needs comparable documentation approved by its own local health department. What a commissary letter must include covers the general requirements.

Step 5 — Submitting the application

The form lists three ways to submit the application, agreement, supporting documents and fee:

• In person: 555 N. Court St., Rockford, IL.
• Mail: P.O. Box 4009, Rockford, IL 61110-0509.
• Email: environmental@publichealth.wincoil.gov.

The office-use box records payment as check, cash, credit or E-PAY. The county Food Code asks for applications to operate a food establishment at least thirty calendar days before you plan to open, and no new permit is issued until the unit has been approved and inspected.

The Food Code also sets plan review fees by risk, $575.44 for Category II and $287.72 for Category III, and says plan review for mobile units follows the FDA Food Code Mobile Food Establishment Matrix. The county's own plan review form still prints the older $200 / $300 / $400 figures, so ask WCHD whether your unit needs a plan review and what it costs before you build or buy the truck.

Step 6 — Renewals and late fees

The form gives Risk 2M a July 1 – June 30 year and Risk 1M October 1 – September 30. The 2026 Food Code no longer sets expiry dates by category: it struck the old June 30 / September 30 rule from Sec. 50-76(a). The health department's permits page separately says food permit renewal applications are mailed in October and due by December 15 for the next calendar year. Ask which date applies to your unit when you first apply, and put it in your calendar.

Under the 2026 Food Code, a renewal not received or postmarked within 15 days of the permit's expiry carries a late fee of $75.00 for Category II or $25.00 for Category III. Late fees double 45 days after expiry, and after that an establishment still operating without a renewal must suspend operations.

The five that actually get Winnebago County applications sent back

Each comes from a rule printed on the county's own form or Food Code.

1. No approved commissary. The form says twice that a permit will not be issued without one.
2. A rented kitchen with no page 2. A commissary under different ownership needs the sharing agreement, signed by its owner.
3. The wrong risk class. Any potentially hazardous hot or cold food is Risk 2M, and the fee and permit year follow the class.
4. No manager certificate copy. Medium and high risk vendors must attach a valid Illinois Food Service Sanitation Manager's Certificate.
5. A corporation with no officer sheet. The form asks for the corporate officers' names and addresses on a separate page.

The habits that keep the same details consistent across every form, starting with one master record of your business, are in how to fill out a vendor permit application faster.

Sources: Winnebago County Health Department — Application for Mobile Food Vendor Permit and Licensed Commissary Sharing Agreement (EH228168EXAPP, rev. 12/09/2022) · WCHD — Get a Permit or License · WCHD — Plan Review Application for Food and/or Beverage Service Facility (EH229790EXAPP) · Winnebago County Board agenda packet, March 26, 2026 (Ordinance Amending Chapter 50, Article III, Food Code, with Secs. 50-76, 50-77, 50-86 and 50-217) · County Board minutes, March 26, 2026 (item 28A, ordinance approved). Environmental Health: 555 N. Court St., Rockford, (815) 720-4100. Verified 7 November 2026.