Hinds County, MS Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 422 of the Zoning Ordinance, titled 'Materials and Growth Constituting Public Health and/or Safety Hazard Prohibited,' folds overgrown vegetation into the same provision as junk and hazardous accumulation. The Ordinance bars letting rubbish, salvage materials, junk, or hazardous waste, including inoperable vehicles and their parts, and any combustible matter, accumulate or sit openly stored anywhere in the unincorporated county. In the same sentence, it bars letting weeds or other growth go uncut within any zoning district. Unlike a numeric mowing ordinance that names an inch or foot threshold, § 422 is triggered by a determination: the appropriate county official, named as the Director of Permit and Zoning, the Fire Chief, or another authorized county employee, or a health official, has to find that the uncut growth or accumulated material constitutes a menace to public health or safety before it becomes an enforceable violation.

That means an overgrown lot is not automatically in violation the moment grass reaches a certain height; it becomes a violation once one of those named officials makes that determination and the property owner fails to correct it. The provision sits in Article IV's General Regulations, so it reaches every zoning district in the unincorporated county rather than being limited to residential subdivisions, and it groups grass and weeds with junk and combustible debris because all three are treated as the same category of health-and-safety hazard under this section.