Dougherty County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated Dougherty County must post written rules inside the unit acknowledging that the county's noise ordinance applies to occupants. County Code…

Every short-term vacation rental in unincorporated Dougherty County must designate a short-term vacation rental agent (STVRA) who stays reachable around the clock. County Code §…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, owners must obtain a short-term vacation rental certificate before renting a home for less than 30 days. The annual application costs $50, requires…

Short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated Dougherty County must hold an occupational tax certificate and pay all hotel-motel and local taxes before renting, per County Code §…

Owners applying for a short-term vacation rental certificate in unincorporated Dougherty County must submit proof of homeowner's insurance that lists the unit as a short-term rental…

Short-term vacation rental applicants in unincorporated Dougherty County must state the number of on-site parking spaces available, and County Code § 2-19-4(6) requires vehicles to…

Short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated Dougherty County face an escalating fine schedule for repeat violations under County Code § 2-19-9, running from a $500 fine on a first…

Short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated Dougherty County may not exceed the maximum overnight occupancy printed on the rental certificate. County Code § 2-19-3(2) bars owners…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, an interior window sign advertising the business inside is capped at ten percent of the window glass area only once the store's hours run past 11:00…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, holiday lights and decorations are classified as an exempt sign under the county sign ordinance, but the exemption still requires securing a…

Political signs in unincorporated Dougherty County cannot go up earlier than sixty days before a primary, general election, or referendum and must come down within seven days…

Unincorporated Dougherty County's sign resolution bans off-site signs, defined to include billboards, outright under Code § 2-13.3-31(a)(22), so a digital or electronic billboard…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, disturbing one acre or more of land, or a smaller tract that is part of a larger development plan, requires a land disturbance permit from the…

Dougherty County's Stormwater Quality Management and Discharge Control Resolution, Sec. 2-14.5-1 et seq., regulates runoff from developed and undeveloped land countywide to meet the…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, outdoor irrigation of lawns, trees, and other plantings is restricted to the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. under County Code § 2-17.5-31…

Unincorporated Dougherty County declares weeds, grass or vegetation over 12 inches tall a nuisance countywide, and separately bans letting growth exceed 12 inches within 50 feet of any…

Licensed solid waste collectors under contract with unincorporated Dougherty County homeowners must pick up household garbage twice a week on scheduled dates. That twice-weekly minimum…

The county-operated Gaissert Road landfill runs 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, but shuts down entirely on six holidays: New Year's…

Dougherty County has barred yard trimmings from its Gaissert Road landfill since September 1, 1996, acting under the state Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act, O.C.G.A. §…

County-run solid waste and recycling centers in unincorporated Dougherty County take glass, aluminum, newspaper, cardboard, plastic and tin free of charge when it's clean and…

Only the owner of a commercial dumpster in unincorporated Dougherty County may disturb it, remove its contents, or relocate it before collection; anyone else who interferes is…

Dumping, throwing, or leaving litter on any road, street, or public or private property in unincorporated Dougherty County is unlawful unless it goes into a designated disposal site or…

Every residence and business in unincorporated Dougherty County must supply enough waste containers to hold what it generates between collections, and those containers must be durable…

Licensed collectors under contract with unincorporated Dougherty County homeowners must pick up nominal amounts of rubbish, such as leaves and lawn and shrubbery clippings, as part of…

Complaints about overgrown lots in unincorporated Dougherty County are not limited to one office: Sec. 2-14-75 lets Planning & Development Services, the Dougherty County Police…

Vacant and abandoned lots in unincorporated Dougherty County fall under the same 12-inch vegetation nuisance rule as occupied property, but Sec. 2-14-74(e) gives the county a separate…

Unincorporated Dougherty County uses a formal in rem court process, not simple citations, to force repair or demolition of dilapidated, unsafe, or drug-crime properties. The…

Unincorporated Dougherty County caps noise entering a residential district at fifty-five dB(A) at night and sixty dB(A) during the day, or ten dB(A) above ambient, whichever is higher…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, running a radio, stereo, musical instrument, or loudspeaker loud enough to disturb neighbors is unlawful under the county's 2025 Noise Ordinance…

Construction and repair work that produces loud or unusual noise, including pile drivers, jackhammers, and hoists, is barred in unincorporated Dougherty County outside 6:00 a.m. to…

Operating a car, truck, motorcycle, ATV, motor-driven cycle, or moped in a way that creates excessive noise is unlawful in unincorporated Dougherty County, including repeatedly riding…

Dougherty County's animal control chapter bans letting a dog or other animal 'annoy or disturb' a neighbor with unreasonable barking. Sec. 2-3.5-28 defines unreasonable noise as…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, parking a junk vehicle on public or private property is unlawful and automatically a public nuisance. Code Section 2-8-2 defines a junk vehicle as…

Unincorporated Dougherty County does not run its own electrical code from scratch: Sec. 2-4-1(6) incorporates by reference a joint county-city electrical resolution, Res. No. 85-015…

Unincorporated Dougherty County adopts its plumbing code by reference rather than printing one: Sec. 2-4-1(2) incorporates Resolution No. 82-037, adopted December 6, 1982 jointly with…

Unincorporated Dougherty County does not shield farms from every nuisance claim, but it carves legitimate farming operations out of both the animal-noise and general noise ordinances…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, free-roaming community and feral cats are exempt from the county's at-large impoundment rules. Animal control regulations define a 'community cat'…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, Sec. 2-3.5-23 requires every animal owner to keep the animal 'under control at all times' once it leaves the owner's property, meaning confined in a…

Dougherty County does not ban dogs by breed; instead Sec. 2-3.5-32 lets an animal services officer classify an individual dog as 'dangerous' or 'vicious' after a bite or aggressive…

Dougherty County's animal control code does not require every pet to be microchipped, but Sec. 2-3.5-32(c)(2) makes it a condition of registering a dog that has been classified as…

Unincorporated Dougherty County does not print a blanket open-burning ban, but the Albany Fire Department charges for the permit inspection it requires before commercial burning: Sec…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, every business, trade, profession or occupation must register with the license inspector, obtain a business license, and pay a flat fifty-dollar fee…

In unincorporated Dougherty County, peddlers, transient merchants and itinerant vendors must register with the license inspector and obtain a business license like any other business…

Dougherty County has no separate massage-establishment license; instead, Code § 2-10-2(d)(1) lists massage and physiotherapy among the licensed professions and taxes each individual…

Unincorporated Dougherty County requires a $1,000.00 annual license before operating an adult entertainment establishment, restricts such businesses to Commercial C-3 zoning, and bars…

Unincorporated Dougherty County caps residential yard sales at three per year per location under Code § 2-10-40, distinguishing them from flea markets, which are outdoor sales…

The Albany-Dougherty Historic Preservation Commission, created under Code § 2-12-10, can designate buildings, sites, objects, cemeteries and works of art as historic properties or…

Along the U.S. 82, U.S. 19 and State Route 300 corridors in unincorporated Dougherty County, a home occupation may display only one nonilluminated nameplate of two square feet or less…