Cecil County, MD Ordinances (2026)

Cecil County requires anyone distributing cigarettes or other tobacco products through a vending machine to hold a per-machine license from the County under Chapter 136. The annual fee…

Every pawnbroker doing business in unincorporated Cecil County must buy an annual license from the Department of Permits and Inspections, pass a criminal history check through the…

Secondhand dealers in unincorporated Cecil County must hold an annual license from the Department of Permits and Inspections, pass a Sheriff's Office background check, and file a daily…

In unincorporated Cecil County, a posted "No Peddlers, No Solicitors, No Agents" sign makes it unlawful for any licensed peddler or solicitor to ring the doorbell, knock or enter the…

Anyone publicly selling, hawking or peddling merchandise in unincorporated Cecil County needs a permit from the Department of Permits and Inspections first, and door-to-door…

Plumbers working in unincorporated Cecil County must call for a rough inspection before covering any underground or rough plumbing work and a final inspection once all work is…

No plumbing work may begin in unincorporated Cecil County until the Division of Permits and Inspections issues a permit to a licensed master plumber, with a narrow exception for minor…

Unincorporated Cecil County adopts the 2023 NFPA 70 National Electrical Code as its Electrical Code and requires a permit from the Division of Permits and Inspections before most…

New residential construction permitted on or after January 1, 2008 in unincorporated Cecil County must have a carbon monoxide detector, per § 240-16M of the Minimum Livability Code…

Cecil County requires a building permit before a large temporary structure goes up. Section 157-2A(23) amends the IBC's special-construction rules so that any temporary structure…

Cecil County requires an automatic fire sprinkler system in every new one- and two-family dwelling. Section R313.2 of the county's amended International Residential Code, codified at §…

Any land-disturbing project in unincorporated Cecil County that moves 100 or more cubic yards of earth or disturbs 5,000 or more square feet needs a Department of Public Works grading…

Cecil County's stormwater management ordinance, Code Chapter 325, applies to development in the unincorporated area and in any incorporated town without its own approved program; the…

Construction within a mapped flood hazard area in unincorporated Cecil County must comply with the Floodplain District of the separate Cecil County Zoning Ordinance, adopted by the…

Cecil County sets no flat cap on the number of dogs or cats a household may keep, but once a household owns or houses 10 or more dogs it meets the County's definition of a "hobby…

Cecil County requires every dog to be kept under restraint or effective control at all times, unless it is engaged in supervised hunting or another activity where restraint would…

Cecil County has no breed-specific dog ordinance. Section 142-12 of the County Code adopts Maryland's dangerous-dog standard, Criminal Law Article §10-619, word for word: a dog becomes…

Cecil County does not require microchips for pets in general, but once the Animal Care and Control Authority declares a dog dangerous, §142-13 requires the owner to have the dog…

Cecil County exempts cats from the leash and restraint law that governs dogs: §142-20 requires owners to prevent "any animal, other than a cat," from leaving the property unattended or…

Cecil County does not ban retail pet stores from selling dogs and cats. Section 142-28 instead lets a licensed pet shop sell animals as long as it passes Animal Care and Control…

Cecil County Code § 142-37 makes it illegal for any private citizen to possess or harbor a dangerous or vicious wild animal in unincorporated Cecil County, listing prohibited species…

When Cecil County's Code Official finds or reasonably believes a Minimum Livability Code violation exists, § 240-14 requires written notice to both the property owner and the tenant…

Cecil County has no standing licensing-style rental inspection program; instead, § 240-12 of the Minimum Livability Code lets the Code Official enter a structure at any reasonable…

Cecil County bars owners from letting an animal continually disturb a neighborhood's quiet with frequent or long-continued noise. Under §142-19, a neighbor must first send the owner a…

Cecil County's Minimum Livability Code (Ch. 240) sets the baseline habitability standard for rental housing in the unincorporated county: owner-occupied single-family homes are exempt…

Cecil County's Minimum Livability Code requires every structure in the unincorporated county to be kept free of insect and rodent infestation, with repeat problems needing a licensed…

Cecil County takes household sharps for free. Under Code § 318-8(B), the Cecil County Central Landfill accepts needles, syringes and lancets from residents during normal operating…

Cecil County's Minimum Livability Code requires a smoke alarm outside every separate sleeping area, installed and maintained to state fire law and the county's adopted building and…

Fireworks of any kind are banned outright in every Cecil County park at every time of year, with no permit exception written into the park ordinance, and violators face citation by…

Reserving a Cecil County park facility for exclusive group use requires a permit under § 261-4, reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Director, with no permit issued to anyone under 21…

Cecil County runs no curbside recycling truck in the unincorporated area. Under Code § 318-7(A), the Solid Waste Management Division maintains and posts the accepted-recyclables list…

Commercial haulers serving unincorporated Cecil County must hold a county license and, under Code § 285-4(E), pick up municipal solid waste and single-stream recyclables from…

Apartment complexes and condominiums with 10 or more units in unincorporated Cecil County must run their own recycling program under Code § 318-7(D), implementing the state mandate in…

Yard waste dropped at a Cecil County disposal facility can't be mixed with other waste, per Code § 318-9(J); loose material must come out of its container so the customer can keep or…

Loitering, campaigning and soliciting are banned outright on the grounds of every Cecil County solid waste disposal facility under Code § 318-11; the ban reaches political canvassers…

Cecil County bans nudity, indecent exposure, sexual acts, and urinating or defecating outside a designated facility on any County park property, treating it as prohibited "indecent…

Skateboarding, roller skating and in-line skating in a Cecil County park are limited to pathways and sidewalks; skaters may not use a road, parking area, or a multipurpose surface such…

In unincorporated Cecil County, bicycling on County park property is confined to roads and pathways designated for bikes, and riders on a trail or pathway must stay at or below 10…

Cecil County deleted the International Building Code's standard exemption for small sheds. Under § 157-2 of the Code of Cecil County, one-story detached accessory structures used as…

County parks in unincorporated Cecil County close at sunset: staying on park property between sunset and sunrise, or beyond posted hours where a park has them, is trespassing unless…

Cecil County bars anyone under 18 from public places or businesses between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on other nights. Chapter 180 exempts…

Unincorporated Cecil County requires a building permit before you install a residential swimming pool or spa, and any permit application filed on or after December 31, 2023 must meet…

Cecil County's swimming pool code sets minimum barrier heights for every pool and spa in the unincorporated county. Under Chapter 333, a public pool needs a barrier at least 72 inches…

Cecil County Code § 157-8 lets the Code Official condemn any structure found unsafe or unfit for human occupancy, order repairs or demolition, and place a lien on the property for the…

Cecil County can order a property owner, including the owner of a vacant lot, to clear trees, bushes, vines, weeds, undergrowth or loose earth that block a driver's view of a county…

Cecil County makes it unlawful to leave an unlicensed junk motor vehicle, or parts of one, on private or public property in open view of a nearby highway. Once a police officer sends…

Unincorporated Cecil County enforces posted time limits on parking through § 359-10 of the Vehicles, Traffic and Transportation chapter. A vehicle left longer than the time shown on a…

Cecil County bans parking a truck, trailer or other vehicle over 8,000 pounds gross vehicle weight on any public or residential road the county has posted 'no truck or trailer…

Cecil County's snow and ice removal chapter puts the Department of Public Works' Roads Division in charge of clearing county roads, not individual residents. A countywide snow or ice…

Cecil County charges a 6% hotel rental tax on stays at hotels within the population centers the county has identified for the tax. The County Council imposed the rate by resolution at…