Worcester County, MD Code Violation Reporting: How to Report (2026)

Worcester County Code § ZS 1-120(a) gives the public a direct line into zoning enforcement in unincorporated Worcester County. Whenever a violation of the zoning title occurs or is alleged to have occurred, any person may report it. The report can be made verbally or in writing. It goes to the Department, which the zoning definitions describe as the County department designated by the County Commissioners to administer and enforce the Title. The building regulations name the Worcester County Department of Development, Review and Permitting as the County's permitting department.

The code puts two duties on the Department once it hears. First, complaints shall be filed immediately in a permanent file. Second, the Department shall then immediately investigate and take action as the zoning title provides. The permanent file is the record the investigation starts from.

Property maintenance complaints follow the same pattern under a different title. For the Worcester County Rental Housing Code, § BR 3-103(d)(1) tells the public to report a violation, verbally or in writing, to the code official, who files it immediately in a permanent file and investigates immediately.

The Department's decision is not the last word. Under § ZS 1-118(a), questions of interpretation and enforcement reach the Board of Zoning Appeals only on appeal from the decision of the Department, and recourse from the Board is the Circuit Court of the County. The County Commissioners do not hear and decide questions of interpretation and enforcement. A report about conduct inside Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill or Pocomoke City belongs with those towns, which have their own codes.