General Environmental

Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies


Learn great tips on how to keep your food safe during a power outage, flood, fire or other emergencies by taking a look at the USDA's Keep Your Food Safe brochure. It has excellent tips that will keep your family and food safe during times when food can spoil or become contaminated.

General Environmental Goals


The goal of the General Environmental Division is to protect and enhance the environmental quality of life for residents, communities, workers, and visitors of Wichita and surrounding counties by developing and implementing consumer health education, surveillance and enforcement programs in our jurisdiction.

Initiatives


The Division's environmental initiatives include:
  1. Securing and assisting others in securing resources for the implementation of environmental initiatives
  2. Facilitating public education
  3. Providing guidance to businesses
  4. Responding to requests for information on environmental health issues
  5. Ensuring that regulated establishments are operated in a manner that protects the public health, public safety, and the environment.

Vision


Our Vision is to positively impact the long-term health and quality of life for people residing in Wichita County. To this end, we employ both personal and professional excellence in every program we administer.

Inspections


The Division conducts inspections of:
  • Food Service Establishments
  • Childcare Facilities
  • Swimming, Recreational and Health Therapy Pools
  • Hotels and Motels
  • Tattoo Parlors
  • Enforces the City of Wichita Falls' Tobacco Ordinance
  • Foster Care
  • On-Site Sewage Facilities
  • Grease Traps

Routine Inspections


The Environmental Health Division is responsible for many aspects of public health in both Wichita Falls and Wichita County. Routine inspections are conducted quarterly on hotels, motels, and non-profit organizations that serve food such as Senior Citizens Centers. Public swimming pools, and hot tubs as well as tattoo parlors are inspected monthly.

All schools, public and private, are inspected annually while the kitchens are inspected twice yearly. Those schools with summer lunch programs receive an additional inspection. Foster homes and day care facilities are inspected at the request of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.

Investigating Complaints


The Division's inspectors investigate general nuisance complaints reported to them. These may include complaints about rats, trash, or other public health concerns. Tall grass and weed complaints should be turned in to the City's Code Enforcement Division at 761-8841, not to Environmental Health.

Office hours for the Environmental Health Division are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The telephone number is (940) 761-7820.

Food Establishment Rules


(Revised Aug. 6, 2019 Adopted Sept. 6, 2019) click here