Madison County, IL Ordinances (2026)

Madison County Code § 37.18 bars anyone from selling, distributing, or furnishing an electronic cigarette or alternative nicotine product to a person under 21, and bars anyone under 21…

Adult businesses in unincorporated Madison County need a special use permit and can only locate in a B-3 Highway Business District, at least 1,000 feet from any residential zone…

Madison County requires every tattoo, piercing or body art establishment in county territory to hold a Health Department permit, and every operator or technician to separately hold an…

Every pawnbroker doing business in Madison County must register with the online database LeadsOnline and upload detailed records, photos and customer ID for every transaction on at…

Secondhand dealers in Madison County must register with LeadsOnline and report every purchase, sale, trade or exchange of used goods daily, though the chapter exempts used-vehicle…

Madison County allows hobby or personal vehicle repair in agricultural and residential districts, but caps it at two vehicles at a time, bars employees and commercial signage, and…

Unincorporated Madison County adopted the 2012 International Residential Code for home construction but specifically carved out Section R314, the Automatic Fire Sprinkler System…

In unincorporated Madison County, any accessory building or structure covering 200 square feet or more requires a building permit before construction. Smaller accessory structures skip…

Electrical work on construction in unincorporated Madison County must follow the 2005 National Electric Code, which the County Board adopted by reference alongside its building…

Plumbing installations for construction in unincorporated Madison County must follow the Illinois Plumbing Code, which the County Board adopted by reference in its Building Regulations…

Where a nursery school is a permitted zoning use in unincorporated Madison County, § 93.088 requires at least 50 square feet of indoor floor space per child, on top of any area used…

Madison County bans drinking alcoholic liquor on any public street, sidewalk, alley, or other publicly owned or controlled space under § 70.040(C). The same section separately forbids…

Skateboard riding is flatly banned on Madison County-owned property and inside county buildings under Code Section 54.30(D), part of the general-violations list that also bars…

Madison County bans the sale, possession, use or explosion of fireworks anywhere in the unincorporated county unless the county has issued a permit for a consumer fireworks display or…

In unincorporated Madison County, no company may collect or haul garbage, recyclables or refuse without a county hauler license, and no hauler may dump residential waste unless…

Every household in unincorporated Madison County must separate recyclables such as newsprint, glass and plastic containers, and aluminum and steel cans from its regular trash, unless…

Madison County bans dumping bottles, ashes, paper, cans, rubbish, garbage, or any other trash on county-owned property, Mass Transit District property, or in a county or transit…

Every occupant of a residential dwelling in Madison County must separate recyclables, at minimum newsprint, glass and plastic containers, and aluminum and steel cans, from garbage and…

Madison County bans mechanically powered lawn and garden tools, including leaf blowers, saws, sanders, drills and grinders, used outdoors in residential areas between 10:00 p.m. and…

Madison County makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle or internal combustion engine that is excessively loud enough to disturb people across a residential property line…

Unincorporated Madison County bars audible amplified sound overnight. Code § 53.05(C) makes it unlawful for any radio, television, musical instrument or live music, from a business…

In unincorporated Madison County, letting any animal cause frequent or long continued noise that disturbs the comfort or repose of an ordinary person is declared a nuisance and a…

Construction, drilling or demolition equipment cannot be run in unincorporated Madison County between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on any day, or at any time on a Sunday or county-recognized…

Running a mechanically powered saw, sander, drill, grinder or lawn and garden tool outdoors in a residential area of unincorporated Madison County between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Central…

In unincorporated Madison County it is a public nuisance under Code § 50.205(A) for an owner to let a dog run at large, meaning off its own property and not under leash or another…

Unincorporated Madison County does not ban dogs by breed. Under Code § 50.081, the County Health Administrator declares a dog dangerous case by case, following state procedures. Once…

Madison County does not require pet owners generally to spay or neuter their animals, but Code § 50.045 bars the Animal Care and Control Department from releasing any unclaimed dog or…

Madison County does not issue its own wildlife-rescue permits. Code § 50.048 instead regulates nuisance wildlife control operators trapping wild animals in unincorporated areas: they…

Madison County does not require microchips for pets generally, but Code § 50.084 makes it mandatory for any dog or animal already declared dangerous or vicious. The chip must be…

In unincorporated Madison County it is a public nuisance under Code § 50.205(C) for an owner to let a cat six months or older run at large, though the rule drops away once the cat is…

In unincorporated Madison County, kennels, pet grooming and pet training operations are a special use in the Agricultural District under Zoning Code § 93.023(D)(17), not a use allowed…

Unincorporated Madison County will not let a veterinary clinic or hospital operate as a home occupation. Section 93.083(D)(8) lists 'veterinary clinics or hospitals' among the uses…

Keeping honeybees in a residential district in unincorporated Madison County requires a special use permit under County Code § 93.100(A), which caps a permit at three colonies, bars…

Unincorporated Madison County limits backyard poultry to hens only, roosters are banned, and County Code § 93.100(B) requires a rear-yard coop and run set back 20 feet from property…

Madison County lets residents in unincorporated territory block door-to-door solicitors by posting a weatherproof "NO SOLICITORS INVITED" card near the main entrance. Anyone licensed…

In unincorporated Madison County, door-to-door canvassing, peddling or soliciting for money, merchandise orders or advertising requires an individual license from the County Clerk…

Any land divided in unincorporated Madison County must control erosion and sedimentation during grading under County Code § 92.033. Subdividers must limit how long soil sits exposed…

In unincorporated Madison County, new construction in a mapped floodplain must sit at least one foot above the base flood elevation, the flood protection elevation set by Chapter 94…

Anyone developing land in a mapped floodplain within unincorporated Madison County must first obtain a development permit from the Zoning Administrator under Chapter 94. Critical…

In unincorporated Madison County's mapped floodways, a minor boat dock counts as an approved development activity, exempt from the chapter's no-increase-in-flood-heights test, only if…

In unincorporated Madison County, anyone adding 10,000 square feet or more of impervious surface, disturbing 10,000 square feet or 100 cubic yards of land, or disturbing land within 25…

Unincorporated Madison County zoning bans large transport trailers, the trucks and semi-trailers hauled by a tractor, from residential districts outright. Recreational trailers and…

In residential zoning districts in unincorporated Madison County, § 93.097(B) caps yard storage at four boats, campers or trailers in the rear or side yard, requires a 20-foot…

Commercial and industrial sites in unincorporated Madison County must provide off-street loading space under County Code § 93.148, with access at least 12 feet wide, a 50-foot…

Madison County requires every mobile food establishment, from taco trucks to trailer-mounted kitchens, to hold a Health Department permit before it operates anywhere in the county…

Operating a mobile food establishment anywhere in Madison County without a valid permit from the County Health Department is unlawful under Code Section 55.15(A), and an unpermitted…

Madison County does not require food handlers to be certified, but it rewards facilities that keep one on staff. Under § 55.50(A), a Category 1 or 1a food establishment that would…

In unincorporated Madison County, sheds and other accessory buildings on residential lots are capped at 20 feet tall, must sit at least 5 feet from the side lot line and 7.5 feet from…

Unincorporated Madison County allows accessory dwelling units only as a special use in the Agricultural District, on lots of two acres or more, capped at 1,000 square feet, under…

In unincorporated Madison County's R-1 through R-4 districts, 'day care or nursery schools' are a special use under § 93.025(G)(3), not a by-right home business, and must meet the…

Home businesses in unincorporated Madison County must stay incidental to the dwelling, fit within a quarter of the first floor or a 300-square-foot accessory building, and fall into…

In unincorporated Madison County, a home occupation may post only one sign, capped at six square feet, under County Code § 93.083(A)(9). Where you can place it depends on lot size: on…

A Type "B" home occupation in unincorporated Madison County, meaning one that has employees or takes on-site customers, can only receive clients between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. under §…

Unincorporated Madison County's zoning code sets fixed yard setbacks by residential district: R-1 requires 40-foot front and rear yards and a 25-foot side yard, while denser R-2 lots…

In unincorporated Madison County's R-1 through R-4 single-family districts, Zoning Code § 93.025(B)(6) caps lot coverage at 15% of the zoning lot for all buildings and structures…

Madison County bans barbed wire fences under 6 feet and electrically charged fences everywhere in unincorporated territory except Agricultural Districts, and it limits residential…

Retaining walls in unincorporated Madison County cannot go in a public street or alley right-of-way without Building and Zoning Committee approval, and one built to exceed the county's…

Countywide, unincorporated Madison County caps fences at 6 feet under Zoning Code § 93.080(E), drops that to 4 feet and 50% open in front yards, and bars anything over 2 feet tall…

Unincorporated Madison County's A Agricultural District, governed by Zoning Code § 93.023, is built to keep nonagricultural development from crowding out farming. It caps new houses at…

Any light fixture on a property in unincorporated Madison County, whether it lights a sign, a parking area or a swimming pool, has to be arranged so the light points away from…

County Code § 93.116(B) caps exposed sign lamps and bulbs at 15 watts and bars blinking, flashing or changing-color illumination on any sign in unincorporated Madison County, including…

In unincorporated Madison County, loading, unloading, opening, closing or otherwise handling boxes, crates, containers, building materials or garbage trucks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m…

Anyone wanting to hold a demonstration, meeting, gathering or parade on Madison County-owned buildings or grounds, including the Courthouse, the Administration Building and the…

In unincorporated Madison County, any swimming pool deeper than two feet must have a barrier at least four feet high around it under County Code § 93.096. The barrier can be a fence…

Digital message centers on signs in Madison County business districts are capped at 50% of the sign's face under County Code § 93.119(C), limited to one per street frontage, and can…

Temporary window signs in unincorporated Madison County are exempt from a sign permit under County Code § 93.122(A)(1) but cannot cover more than 25% of a building's ground-floor…

Before installing, relocating, adding to or otherwise disrupting a facility, pipe, cable, pole or other utility structure in a Madison County right-of-way, a utility must file an…