Sumter County, FL Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

When a resident calls Sumter County Code Enforcement to report a property, the officer checks it against the list of prima facie nuisances in Code § 6-104, part of the Nuisance Abatement Ordinance, Ord. No. 95-7 of 1995, which applies only in the unincorporated area under § 6-112. The ordinance calls its list illustrative, not exhaustive, but names five conditions specifically: (1) any condition capable of breeding flies, mosquitoes, or other disease-carrying arthropods; (2) accumulated rubbish, trash, garbage, or solid waste in violation of any state law or county ordinance; (3) any dwelling, building, structure, or premises that is unsafe as defined by the county's Unsafe Building and Abatement Code and a menace to health or safety; (4) more than one inoperable vehicle on an individual lot at one time, except at licensed junk or salvage yards, vehicles under repair at a licensed shop, or farm equipment on parcels over an acre; and (5) herbaceous or woody growth over 24 inches high on residential or commercial land, excluding rural agricultural land.

Once the administrative officer determines one of these conditions exists and needs abatement, § 6-105 requires certified-mail and posted notice to the owner, and § 6-106 gives the owner 20 days to appeal to the Board of County Commissioners. Unresolved violations can be abated by the county with the cost billed and liened against the property under §§ 6-107 through 6-109, or prosecuted criminally as a misdemeanor under § 6-110.