What the Rules Say

Utah County Regulation 26-01: Progressive Enforcement for Retail Food, Adopted July 2026

Written for: Utah County restaurant owners and managers (Provo, Orem, Lehi, American Fork, Springville, Spanish Fork and the rest of the county); multi-unit operators with locations in both counties

Utah County does not score inspections the way Salt Lake County does. In July 2026 its Board of Health adopted a regulation that is about enforcement rather than scoring: what the department may do, step by step, when a food establishment does not correct what an inspection found. The pest rules themselves are the same Food Code sections that apply everywhere in Utah (the Food Code page); this page is about what happens in Utah County after a report.

What it adopts

(a) As required by law, retail food establishments regulated by the Utah County Health Department shall comply with Utah Administrative Rule R392-100, Food Service Sanitation, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code (Food Code) as incorporated therein, and Utah Administrative Rule R392-102, Mobile Food Business Sanitation, as amended. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 1.4(a), adopted July 27, 2026

(b) Nothing in this Regulation shall be interpreted to supersede or conflict with applicable state law or administrative rule. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 1.4(b)

So in Utah County the pest sections of the Food Code apply as Utah adopted them (R392-100), and the correction deadlines come from the Food Code’s own enforcement chapter:

3.2 - Duty to Correct Violations Violations identified during inspections shall be corrected within the timeframes established in Subpart 8-405.11 of Food Code, as described in Subsection 1.4 of the regulation. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 3.2

No public point score

(b) The Department may establish and utilize internal scoring systems, risk assessment methodologies, historical inspection data, enforcement thresholds, and related guidance tools to support consistent identification of establishments warranting progressive enforcement intervention. (c) Such methodologies are advisory enforcement tools intended to support consistent implementation of this Regulation and do not replace professional judgment. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 4.2(b)–(c)

Instead of a score, the regulation defines what a failed inspection is:

(a) The Department may determine that an establishment has failed an inspection when documented conditions, considered individually or collectively, demonstrate: i. Significant public health risk; ii. Multiple Priority violations; iii. Repeated Priority violations; iv. Chronic unresolved violations; v. Failure to sustain corrective actions; vi. Loss of active managerial control; or vii. Other conditions supporting escalated enforcement. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 4.2(a)

The follow-up inspection

(a) “Follow-Up Inspection” means a limited-scope inspection conducted to verify correction of previously documented out-of-compliance Priority and Priority Foundation violations, compliance with corrective directives, implementation of Risk Control Plans, and restoration of active managerial control. (b) Follow-Up Inspections are not intended to be comprehensive evaluations of the establishment. Violations observed in plain view may be documented and addressed by the Department. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 2.6

The fee schedule on the county’s site lists it:

Follow-Up Inspection Fee (Universal for all programs) $140.00 — Utah County Health Department, Fee Schedule, read Nov. 3, 2026

The ladder

(a) The Department may initiate progressive enforcement actions when an establishment demonstrates repeated or ongoing noncompliance, including: i. Recurring violations that continue to reappear after correction; ii. Repeat Priority violations; iii. Failure to comply with corrective directives; iv. Failure to implement Risk Control Plans; v. Failure to meet compliance deadlines; vi. Chronic noncompliance; vii. Loss of active managerial control; or viii. Interference with regulatory duties. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 4.4(a)

(b) Progressive enforcement actions may include: i. Additional Follow-Up Inspections; ii. Warning letters; iii. Risk category reevaluation; iv. Mandatory Risk Control Plans; v. Compliance Conferences; vi. Repeat Violation Enforcement Management Fees; vii. Notices of Violation (NOV); viii. Administrative penalties; ix. Permit Status Hearings; x. Permit suspension; or xi. Permit revocation. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 4.4(b)

Three of those steps have definitions worth reading before you are in them.

Corrective Directive:

(a) “Corrective Directive” means a written directive issued by the Department requiring specific corrective action necessary to address significant public health risks, ongoing noncompliance, imminent health hazards, or repeated violations within a prescribed timeframe. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 2.4(a)

(d) Corrective Directives generally address violations, deficiencies, or public health concerns that cannot be fully corrected during the inspection and require completion of specified corrective measures within a timeframe established by the Department. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 2.4(d)

Compliance Conference:

“Compliance Conference” means a mandatory meeting required by the Department to address repeated or ongoing noncompliance, review corrective actions, evaluate active managerial control, and establish compliance expectations and timelines. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 2.3

Permit Status Hearing and Probationary Status:

Following a Permit Status Hearing, the Department may: (a) Issue additional Corrective Directives; (b) Place the establishment on probationary status subject to specified permit conditions; (c) Impose permit conditions reasonably necessary to protect public health and ensure compliance; (d) Require additional corrective actions; (e) Suspend the permit; (f) Revoke the permit; or (g) Take other lawful enforcement action. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 6.10

(b) Unless otherwise specified by the Hearing Officer, Probationary Status shall remain in effect for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 6.11(b)

Imminent health hazard

The regulation’s examples of an imminent health hazard do not name pests by that word; the nearest item is “Gross insanitary conditions,” and the list ends with a catch-all:

(b) Examples may include: i. Sewage backup; ii. Lack of potable water; iii. Extended electrical or refrigeration failure affecting food safety; iv. No operable handwashing facilities in food preparation or food service areas; v. Fire or flood contamination; vi. Foodborne illness outbreak; vii. Complete loss of active managerial control creating immediate food safety risk; viii. Gross insanitary conditions; or ix. Other conditions determined by the Department to present an immediate danger to public health. — Utah County Health Department Regulation 26-01, § 2.7(b)

Where the “recurring violations” line meets pests

Professional synthesis, not law. The first trigger on the ladder is “Recurring violations that continue to reappear after correction.” In Salt Lake County’s public data, about one in three kitchens with a pest line has one again at the next routine visit, and most pest lines are openings and conditions that do not fix themselves (what comes back). In Utah County, the same unfixed door gap is the kind of recurring, non-critical item that moves an establishment from a report to the first rung of the ladder. The answer is the same in both counties: fix the cause, write it down, and keep the record (Records Binder).

What is public in Utah County

Regulation 26-01 contains no provision about publishing inspection results. The county’s Environmental Health page links to a “Restaurant Inspection Reports” lookup hosted by a third-party service; on the verification date that lookup refused the automated check this site uses, so what it shows, and whether it holds any reports, is not verified here. Utah County publishes no bulk inspection data, and none of the aggregate findings on this site include Utah County. Both points are open items.