Kankakee County, IL Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

County Code Section 22-24, the health nuisance enumeration, makes item (16) "the allowing of weeds and grasses to grow on a parcel of property five acres or less in size, without periodic cutting of weeds and grasses" a nuisance in its own right, alongside the other 15 conditions the section lists. The five-acre cutoff means the mandatory-cutting rule reaches ordinary residential and small rural lots in unincorporated Kankakee County, not large farm tracts; Illinois law bars counties from zoning land actually used for agriculture, and the county's own five-acre line in Section 22-24(16) tracks that same distinction between working farmland and smaller parcels.

The county health authority enforces the same way it enforces every item on the list: it investigates on complaint or on its own initiative under Section 22-25, can inspect the lot under Section 22-26 with a court warrant if the owner refuses entry, and, once a violation is confirmed, serves written notice under Section 22-27 requiring the owner to cut the weeds and grass within a specified reasonable time. An owner who disagrees can appeal to the board of health by filing a written hearing request before that deadline.

If the weeds are not cut, the county may mow the lot itself and place a lien on the property for the cost, seek a court injunction, or charge the owner with a class B misdemeanor under Section 22-28, with every additional day counted as a separate offense.