The Carroll County Health Department will take new measures to cut down on the average 100 restaurants and other places that sell food without a food service facility license each year.

Starting Jan. 2, 2010, restaurants found to be without a food service facility license will be shut down immediately.

Restaurants and caterers have to renew their food service licenses before the first day of business of the calendar year, but not all of them do, said Andrea Hanley, supervisor of community hygiene for the county Health Department. About 100 restaurants and stores each year don't send in their applications, she said.

"They will be closed for businesses until they send in their packet, pay their fee and provide their worker's comp information," said Hanley.

The licenses have to be renewed before the first business day of the New Year, and the Health Department sent out packages Nov. 2 to the approximate 650 food service businesses to apply to renew their licenses.

For operators who are shut down, the Health Department will review the license application when received and immediately give the owners a call to let them know they can re-open, she said.

Depending on the business, the license costs $60, $115 or $150. The less expensive license is for places that mostly sell prepackaged food, $115 for most fast food and casual dining restaurants and $150 for catering-type businesses.

Enforcing the Jan. 1 compliance has proved to be difficult and, at times, restaurants that lacked a license continued to operate, she said.

Before, a certified letter would be mailed to businesses saying they have seven days to comply, she said. After that, two health department employees inspect to see if the business is still operating. If they are, charges for operating without a license can be filed with the District Court.

The charges are criminal offenses and business owners can be fined up to $1,000 per day, she said.

"We do not see that," she said. "Most judges are charging them with a probation before judgment so as long as they comply in the next year, the charges are dropped. Nothing is in their record."

One business owner who the Health Department sued did not show up for the court date and was arrested for failing to appear, she said. Then, "nothing happened" at the second court date, she said.

Additionally, because it takes weeks to appear in court, restaurants remain open while they operated unlicensed, said County Health Officer Larry Leitch. Now, he said, "We will cease operations much, much sooner if they don't renew their license."

Most businesses tell the Health Department that the holidays are a busy time because of handling parties and they forget about renewing their license, Hanley said.

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