Boone County, KY Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing officer
- County Code Enforcement Officer, § 93.02
- Notice requirement
- Written notice with the citation
- Compliance window
- 5 days, extendable to 8
- After deadline
- County abates and bills owner
- Unpaid bill
- 10 days before a lien attaches
- Applies in
- Unincorporated Boone County only
Summary
Boone County's Code Enforcement Officer handles nuisance complaints, like overgrown lots, for the unincorporated county under Chapter 93. Once the officer finds a violation, Boone County Code § 93.03 requires a written notice and gives the landowner five days, or eight with a timely extension request, to fix the problem before the county steps in and bills the owner.
§ 93.02 INSPECTIONS BY CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. The County Code Enforcement Officer shall be responsible for inspections relating to this chapter, and is hereby empowered to cite violations of this chapter. ... § 93.03 NOTICE OF VIOLATION; ABATEMENT PROCEDURE; LIEN FOR COSTS. (A) After a violation of this chapter is found to exist, the Code Enforcement Officer shall issue, along with the citation, a written notice to the land owner advising of the violation and requiring that the unsightly vegetation be removed within five days of the date of the violation notice. (B) The property owner may request an additional three days (for a total of eight days) to comply, by contacting the Code Enforcement Officer within the five-day period.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-28: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ordinance 2025-20, passed 6-17-25; and State legislation current through KRS 2025).
Full Breakdown
01. 03 requires the citation to come with a written notice to the landowner spelling out the violation and setting a five-day deadline to clear it. A property owner who contacts the Code Enforcement Officer within that five-day period can request three additional days, for eight total, to come into compliance. If the owner still has not acted once the five- or extended eight-day period runs out, the county is authorized to enter the property, cut and remove the offending vegetation itself, and bill the owner for the cost of that work.
The property owner then has ten days to pay the bill in full; missing that second deadline lets the county record a lien against the real estate with the County Clerk, a lien that carries interest and can be enforced through foreclosure under Kentucky law. 03. Both processes apply only inside unincorporated Boone County; Florence, Union and Walton run their own code enforcement programs.
Violations & Fines
Ignoring the § 93.03 notice past the five- or eight-day compliance window does not add a separate fine by itself, but it triggers the county's cost-recovery process: the county cuts the lot, bills the owner, and after ten unpaid days can record and foreclose a lien on the property. The underlying Chapter 93 violation, exceeding the eight-inch grass limit, remains separately punishable as a misdemeanor with a $50 to $500 fine under § 93.99.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do I contact to report an overgrown lot in Boone County?
How much time does a property owner get to fix a cited violation?
What happens if the county has to cut my lot for me?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Boone County
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