Mason County, WA Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)

Mason County's enforcement chapter, Chapter 15.13, does not set up a dedicated hotline or online complaint form; instead it defines when and how the county investigates once it has reason to look into a property. Under § 15.13.010(a), the 'review authority', meaning Community Development, Public Health, Public Works or whichever department administers the code at issue, is responsible for enforcing the codes and ordinances Title 15 covers, and an employee of one department can act on violations that fall under another department's regulations. Section 15.13.010(b) sets the trigger and the ground rules for the inspection that follows a report or other reasonable cause: the director or an authorized inspector may enter a premises or building at reasonable times either to enforce the chapter or once there is 'reasonable cause to believe that a violation has been or is being committed.' If the property is occupied, the inspector must present credentials to the occupant and request entry before going further; if it is unoccupied, the director must first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or the person in charge and request entry from them.

Refusal of entry does not end the matter: the director then has recourse to legal remedies to secure entry, which in practice means seeking an inspection warrant. Chapter 15.11 lists which body hears the resulting appeals; for the Sanitary Code, Environmental Policy and Resource Ordinance, Bridges and Roads, Utilities, Buildings and Construction, Grading, Stormwater, Subdivisions and Zoning titles, that body is the Mason County hearing examiner.