Kings County, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Property blight in the unincorporated county is addressed by the Kings County Community Development Agency's Code Compliance Division, which is charged with enforcement of the County's Zoning, Building, Nuisance, Surface Mining and Abandoned Vehicle ordinances. The Division reports that it abates and removes 100 to 200 derelict or abandoned vehicles and up to 10 substandard or dangerous buildings per year, in addition to resolving several hundred zoning and nuisance complaints. Building blight is governed by Chapter 5 (Buildings and Structures) of the County Code: Sec. 5-36 adopts the California Building Standards Code together with the most recently published editions of the Uniform Housing Code and the Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, and Sec. 5-2 makes maintaining an unsafe, substandard or dangerous building an infraction. Under California Health and Safety Code Sec. 17920.3, substandard buildings are defined and treated as public nuisances subject to repair, rehabilitation or demolition. Enforcement is complaint-driven: a typical case starts with an inspection and a warning, followed (if uncorrected) by citations to court, administrative monetary penalties, or physical abatement. California Government Code Sec. 25845 authorizes the Board of Supervisors to abate nuisances and recover costs as a special assessment against the property.