Rockdale County, GA Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Section 42-72 of the Rockdale County Code specifically declares seven categories of unsanitary conditions to be nuisances that no person may create, maintain, support, aid or continue. These are the conditions the department of planning and development's code enforcement officers and the county board of health's health officer most often cite: toilets, sanitary facilities, plumbing or sewers in bad repair; conditions conducive to breeding flies, mosquitoes or other insects; trash, garbage, refuse or foul, decaying material kept so as to become a nuisance or rodent-breeding place; contamination of lakes, ponds, streams and other waters by manmade contaminants; manmade or mechanically induced noxious air contaminants; unsanitary keeping of horses, hogs, dogs, chickens and similar animals or fowl; and open, abandoned wells.

Under § 42-72, correction is triggered by written notice from the health officer rather than an automatic citation, giving the property owner a chance to remedy the condition first. The health officer's investigative authority is set out in the companion section, § 42-73: they may enter premises at reasonable times, take samples of any suspected nuisance-causing substance, and must promptly investigate every bona fide complaint, though anonymous complaints may be declined at the health officer's discretion. Section 42-82 ties enforcement of this article to the general penalty at § 1-11 of the Code.

A related nuisance provision, § 42-81, separately covers trees, shrubs, fences and signs that obstruct sight distance at intersections, giving the director of public services and engineering authority to order removal within 15 days of written notice, with county-performed abatement and cost assessment to the owner if not corrected within 30 days.