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Property Maintenance in Stearns County, MN (2026)

2 rules for unincorporated Stearns County, Minnesota.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Stearns County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Property Blight

In unincorporated Stearns County, a structure damaged by fire, water, wind, decay or age that endangers public safety is a declared public nuisance under Ordinance No. 392. The Environmental Services Director orders the owner to abate it within 10 days; ignoring the order brings a County Board hearing, County-performed abatement billed to the owner, and misdemeanor charges.

Stearns County Dangerous Structure Nuisance Abatement

Significant Restrictions

Stearns County Ordinance No. 392, Sections 4.2(S), 5.1

S. Structures which have been damaged by fire, water, wind, decay, age or other peril which are so situated as to endanger the safety of the public, property owners or visitors to the property; and ... Whenever the Director determines that a public nuisance is being maintained or exists on premises in the County, the Director shall provide notice of the public nuisance to the Chair of the Town ...

Vacant Lot Maintenance

Stearns County bans open accumulations of junk, debris and overgrown vegetation on unimproved property that harbor rodents or create a fire hazard. The Environmental Services Department can order abatement, and the ordinance applies only outside incorporated cities.

Vacant Lot Junk & Overgrowth: Stearns County

Some Restrictions

Stearns County Ordinance No. 392, § 4.2(H)

Accumulations in the open of broken or unused plastic, glass, metal, wood, lumber, cement, electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures, building materials (but excluding building materials awaiting use and stored for a reasonable period of time for an improvement presently in progress on the same premises), discarded, unused or inoperable machinery, household appliances, inoperable and/or unlicensed...

All Stearns County ordinances

See every category we cover for Stearns County: parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.

Stearns County Ordinance Hub →