Who inspects commercial kitchens in Inyo County?

Inyo County Environmental Health Department is the food safety authority for Inyo County. Reach them at (760) 878-0238. California Retail Food Code provides the statutory base; the agency conducts inspections and documents findings through narrative violation reports.

How are inspection results communicated in Inyo County?

Inyo County Environmental Health Department documents inspections through narrative violation reports; no letter grade or numeric score is assigned. Results are available to the public through the agency's published portals.

Who enforces fire and hood-cleaning rules in Inyo County?

In Inyo County, fire code authority rests with local fire departments (specific AHJ not identified). Enforcement covers the 2025 California Fire Code and NFPA 96 (2021 edition) for commercial kitchen exhaust. Hood cleaning default frequency: quarterly.

What fire code edition applies in Inyo County?

The 2025 California Fire Code is the adopted edition. NFPA 96 (2021) governs commercial kitchen exhaust systems. Ask your local fire department whether Inyo County has adopted local amendments to the 2025 California Fire Code.

Where can I verify Inyo County inspection records?

Primary source: https://www.inyocounty.us/services/environmental-health. EvidLY ScoreTable mirrors the latest health-department-published results at https://www.getevidly.com/scoretable/california/inyo.

California Health Department

Inyo County commercial kitchen compliance

Inyo County Environmental Health Department is the authority. Here's the methodology, the thresholds, and the fire code overlay.

Authority chain

Inyo County → Inyo County Environmental Health Department → California Retail Food Code

Inyo County applies the statutory framework of the California Retail Food Code. The health department oversees approximately 150 permitted food facilities. The county seat is Independence. Bishop Fire: (760) 873-8348. Very low commercial kitchen density. City of Bishop Fire is a separate authority having jurisdiction. The National Park Service has federal authority over Death Valley National Park facilities.

Standard 01

Food Safety

Authority

Inyo County Environmental Health Department

Phone: (760) 878-0238
Website: www.inyocounty.us/services/environmental-health
Scoring type: None
Grading type: None
Permitted facilities: ~150
Office: 1360 N. Main St., Bishop, California 93514

Methodology

Inyo County operates a CalCode-only retail food safety program through a standalone Environmental Health Department. No local placard ordinance, no letter grade system, no numeric scoring overlay, no rating tier, no public-facing inspection portal for food. Mission statement from the Environmental Health landing page: "Inyo County Environmental Health Department's mission is to prevent environmental public health hazards. We succeed by being a responsive team that prevents these hazards through environmental education and consistent enforcement, when necessary, of the facilities and programs under our jurisdiction." 13-program Environmental Health scope: Environmental Drilling, Harmful Algal Blooms, Organized Camps, Food, Hazardous Materials (Certified Unified Program Agency), Solid Waste, Drinking Water, Residential Septic Systems, Recreational Water, Vector Control, Housing, Body Art, and Water Lab. Director: Jerry Oser. Standard CalCode retail food regulatory framework with specific Compact Mobile Food Operation application track. October 2025 Open Gov portal launch (countyofinyoca.portal.opengov.com) now includes Temporary Food Application submission alongside wells/septic.

Inspection results published by the agency are mirrored at Inyo County on ScoreTable.

Primary source

https://www.inyocounty.us/services/environmental-health — covers 13-program Environmental Health scope, Director Jerry Oser (direct phone 760-873-7866), address (1360 N. Main St., Bishop), Environmental Health phone (760) 878-0238, email inyoehd@inyocounty.us, hours M-F 8am-5pm, Open Gov portal launch October 2025, Water Lab program, Spanish-language application apparatus, Compact Mobile Food Operation classification track, Inyo+Mono shared services, food sub-program inventory.

Last verified by JIE: May 21, 2026

Published inspection data for Inyo County is mirrored on ScoreTable, direct from the agency.

Health department detail

What makes Inyo County distinct

Standalone Environmental Health Department in the population center, not the county seat: Environmental Health Department operates from Bishop (the commercial hub) even though Independence is the formal county seat. Operationally similar to El Dorado's split pattern but with primary office in population center rather than county seat.
13-program Environmental Health scope including in-house Water Lab: Inyo's Environmental Health operates 13 distinct programs including an in-house bacteriological Water Lab program — broader scope than typical small-county Environmental Health departments. The Water Lab addresses Eastern Sierra rural geography (private wells common, tourism/recreational vehicle water systems prevalent).
Spanish-language application apparatus for food vendor populations: Four Spanish-language food application documents published on the Environmental Health page (CMFO Guidance, CMFO Application, mobile food facility Application, New Food Facility Guidance) — indicates non-trivial Spanish-speaking owner base.
October 2025 Open Gov portal launch with food submission inclusion: Recent (October 2025) launch of Open Gov portal for application submissions. Initial announcement emphasized wells/septic but the Environmental Health page carousel shows Temporary Food Application submission is also in the portal scope.
Compact Mobile Food Operation specific application track: Compact Mobile Food Operation is a specific California mobile food classification (non-vehicle small carts/push carts) with distinct permitting requirements. Inyo maintains separate guidance documents and application forms for Compact Mobile Food Operation — distinct from Mobile Food Facility (vehicle-based) permits.
Inyo+Mono shared regulatory services (agricultural, weights/measures, weed management, child support): Eastern Sierra rural cluster operational pattern: Inyo and Mono share several regulatory and extension services across both counties. Environmental Health/food safety is NOT shared (each county has its own Environmental Health), but adjacent regulatory infrastructure is cross-county integrated.

Standard 02

Fire Safety

Authority having jurisdiction

In Inyo County, fire code authority rests with local fire departments (specific AHJ not identified).

Phone: (760) 878-0262
Website: inyocounty.us
Fire code edition: 2025 California Fire Code
NFPA 96 edition: 2021
Hood cleaning default: Quarterly
Permit type: Operational Fire Permit — annual renewal, pass/fail

Hood cleaning frequencies

Frequencies enforced by local fire departments (specific AHJ not identified) per NFPA 96 (2021).

Cooking volume / type	Frequency
Solid-fuel cooking	Monthly
High-volume / 24-hour / charbroil / wok	Quarterly
Moderate-volume	Semiannually
Low-volume / seasonal / place of worship	Annually

Hood cleaning enforcement

LOW

Reference

Frequently asked

Who inspects commercial kitchens in Inyo County?: Inyo County Environmental Health Department is the food safety authority for Inyo County. Reach them at (760) 878-0238. California Retail Food Code provides the statutory base; the agency conducts inspections and documents findings through narrative violation reports.
How are inspection results communicated in Inyo County?: Inyo County Environmental Health Department documents inspections through narrative violation reports; no letter grade or numeric score is assigned. Results are available to the public through the agency's published portals.
Who enforces fire and hood-cleaning rules in Inyo County?: In Inyo County, fire code authority rests with local fire departments (specific AHJ not identified). Enforcement covers the 2025 California Fire Code and NFPA 96 (2021 edition) for commercial kitchen exhaust. Hood cleaning default frequency: quarterly.
What fire code edition applies in Inyo County?: The 2025 California Fire Code is the adopted edition. NFPA 96 (2021) governs commercial kitchen exhaust systems. Ask your local fire department whether Inyo County has adopted local amendments to the 2025 California Fire Code.
Where can I verify Inyo County inspection records?: Primary source: https://www.inyocounty.us/services/environmental-health. EvidLY ScoreTable mirrors the latest health-department-published results at https://www.getevidly.com/scoretable/california/inyo.

Related coverage

What to do with this data

EvidLY

Predict the failure. Reduce the cost. Prove the work.

EvidLY reads the regulations for Inyo County, identifies what's about to slip, and documents what got done — before an inspector or insurer asks.

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ScoreTable

Inyo County inspection data — direct from the agency.

Real inspection results for Inyo County, mirrored from the health department's own published portals. No aggregation, no conversion.

View Inyo County on ScoreTable

FTC disclosure: Stovio Advisors is a Cleaning Pros Plus, LLC company. Cleaning Pros Plus, HoodOps, and EvidLY (with ScoreTable) are commonly owned. Links to these sister brands are editorial references, not paid placements, and do not influence coverage. Vendor Network placements are paid and labeled as such; they do not influence editorial coverage.

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