Dallas County has been roped in by a new law intended to facilitate food truck operations in Tarrant County.
House Bill 2878 came into effect on September 1, yet Dallas County health authorities were unaware that this regulatory change affected them until the last minute.
“It surprised us,” said Dallas County Health and Human Services Chief Dr. Philip Huang, according to D Magazine. “We had been informed early on that it was supposed to apply only to Tarrant County.”
In fact, the law introduced by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) modifies which political subdivision is responsible for overseeing health inspections on “mobile food service establishments,” also known as food trucks.
Essentially, the regulatory duty shifted from cities to counties, easing the burden of time and money on operators who had to get a different permit for each city they wished to work in.
“Food trucks have become increasingly popular across Texas. Unlike traditional restaurants that apply for health department permits from the city in which they are located, these mobile food service establishments must apply for a separate permit in each municipality in which they wish to operate,” the law’s analysis detailed.
“Applying for additional permits is a costly barrier to doing business for many of these vendors. By creating a system in which a universal license exists within the county, mobile food service establishments can plan their budgets accordingly and would no longer need to worry about compliance issues as they cross a road into a new city’s jurisdiction,” the analysis continued.
Part of the confusion for Dallas County officials stemmed from this very analysis, which cited Tarrant County’s “41 separate incorporated areas” as an example of why the bill was being proposed.
The law applies to counties with a population of 2.1 million or more, an airport jointly operated by two or more public agencies, and an airport owned by the principal municipality in the county that does not offer commercial air service.
Both counties met the aforementioned criteria, with Dallas County having a population of 2.6 million and Tarrant County having a population of 2.15 million, according to data from the 2022 U.S. Census.
Despite Capriglione naming Tarrant County in the analysis, he clarified that the bill’s language was crafted to apply to other counties as well.
“There are a lot of bills — I’m not harping on [the City of Dallas and Dallas County] either,” he said, according to D Magazine. “I think we filed something like 8,000 bills and all these resolutions. It’s difficult to follow all of it. And the bill doesn’t say Dallas County, and it doesn’t say Tarrant County either, right?”
The Dallas County Commissioners Court called a special meeting on August 29 ahead of the law taking effect to discuss the new policy.
The county plans to hire five inspectors and a clerk to handle food truck inspections, according to Huang.
So far, officials have created a fee schedule, developed a website, and outlined the steps needed for food trucks to obtain a required permit, mirroring those applied earlier by the City of Dallas.
