Adair County, IA Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)

Adair County does not staff its own environmental health office. Its website states that Adair County has a contract with Guthrie County to operate its Environmental Health program, and the page adds that the arrangement allows Adair County to save money while helping to fund Guthrie County's department. The complaint desk is therefore the Guthrie County office at 2002 State St., Guthrie Center, IA 50115, reached at 641-747-3972.

The page names complaint investigation as a function of the department. It receives and investigates complaints on animal neglect and abuse, dumping and other garbage issues, illegal burning, tenant complaints regarding rental home conditions, and animal bites. That is five complaint types, and the page names no others. It prints no complaint form, no response deadline and no after-hours number, so a caller should expect to describe the problem by phone and let the office decide how to proceed.

The same department also runs the county's permit and inspection work, which is a separate track from complaints. Well programs cover testing, construction permits, plugging and renovation. Private sewage system programs cover percolation tests, construction permits and inspection of installations. The department also offers water testing and a radon testing program, inspects swimming pools, spas, tanning beds and tattoo parlors, inspects septic tank and portable toilet pumpers, and performs time of transfer septic inspections. Anyone installing or replacing a septic tank must contact the Guthrie County Environmental Health Department; after a percolation test a permit is issued and an inspection is done before the system is covered up. Drilling a well requires both State and County permits, with a water test after completion, and heat pump wells also require a permit.

Dumping on a county road right-of-way is also covered by Adair County Ordinance No. 8B. Section 2 prohibits discarding, placing, dumping, or disposing of any solid wastes, garbage, or debris within the rights-of-way of a County Highway or road. Section 3 lets the County remove an immediately dangerous hazard without notice or liability and assess the removal costs against the owner or the person responsible. The posted ordinance names no reporting office, so the Environmental Health line, which takes dumping and other garbage complaints, is the contact the county website prints.