East Baton Rouge Parish, LA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Sec. 12:351(a) requires every owner or agent in control of a lot within a recognized subdivision of this city-parish to keep the property in such a manner that grass and weeds do not reach a height of more than twelve (12) inches and allowed to remain in such condition for more than two (2) weeks. Three categories are carved out: land used for the grazing of livestock or other agricultural purpose; tracts of land of two (2) acres or more except for any portion of the tract which is within one hundred (100) feet of any zoning district that allows for a residential use; and a combination of contiguous tracts owned by the same owner totaling two (2) acres or more and which contains at least one (1) tract for which an active building permit is in effect.

Enforcement runs through Sec. 12:352: the department of public works sends a registered or certified letter, and the owner has 15 days from receipt to cut the growth before the department can do it at the owner's expense. For lots inside the city, the department can add a two-day newspaper advertisement, after which the owner has five more days before the city cuts. If an owner has already been notified once in the preceding 12 months and failed to act, the department can cut monthly on city property without repeating the notice, after filing a signed, photographed affidavit of the property's condition.

Sec. 12:353 lets the department recover its costs by recording a lien with the recorder of mortgages in the Weed Cutting Lien Book, a lien that runs as a tax lien for up to ten years unless reinscribed, plus a 10 percent (or $2, whichever is greater) penalty, and the parish attorney can sue to enforce it. The department also divides the parish into weed-cutting areas each year and advertises, by February 15, that unmowed lots in the designated area may be cut within 30 days.