Dallas, TX Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

State law is the foundation under Dallas's weed enforcement. Texas Health & Safety Code Sec. 004 lets a municipality's governing body require property owners to keep their land free of weeds, brush, and the kinds of conditions defined as a public nuisance under Sec. 011(c)(1), (2), or (3), and Sec. 005 lets the city punish anyone who violates the resulting ordinance. Normally, before the city can do the mowing itself and bill the owner, Sec. 006 requires seven days' written notice, served in person, by mail to the address on file with the county appraisal district, or, if that fails, by newspaper publication or posting a placard on the property.

Sec. 008 carves out a faster path for genuinely dangerous overgrowth: once weeds pass 48 inches and pose an immediate danger to health, life, or safety, the city can abate them without any advance notice at all. The city then has ten days after the mowing to notify the owner, under Sec. 008(b), and that notice has to describe the violation, confirm the city already abated it, and explain the owner's right to an administrative hearing. If the owner files a written hearing request within 30 days of the abatement, the city must hold that hearing within 20 days of the request, and the owner can testify or bring witnesses and documents, per Sec.

008(d)-(e). Dallas exercises this state authority through its own ordinance: City Code Sec. 18-13 sets the local trigger at 12 inches, makes it an offense to let weeds or grass exceed that height or to leave cuttings on the ground after mowing, and Sec. 18-16 backs it with fines from $50 up to $2,000 per day of violation, doubling on a second conviction and tripling on a third within 24 months. The city can also recover its actual mowing costs from the owner and place a lien on the property, second only to tax liens, under the state's Sec. 007 and Dallas's own Sec. 18-18.