Lyon County, NV Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Lyon County Code § 6.01.02(A)-(B)
- Nuisance standard
- Unfit, unsafe, unsanitary, or fire menace
- Determination authority
- District attorney or code enforcement officer
- Abatement cost recovery
- Special assessment lien on parcel
- Penalty basis
- Lyon County Code § 1.04.01
Summary
Lyon County, Nevada declares any building or structure that is unfit for habitation, unsafe, unsanitary or a fire menace to be a public nuisance, and it makes the property owner or occupant who lets that condition remain guilty of maintaining a nuisance under the county code.
A. Any building or structure which is unfit for use or habitation, or which is unsafe or unsanitary, or a fire menace, or a danger to life or health, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. B. Any person who shall maintain or use, or who shall permit to remain upon any premises owned or occupied by him in the county, any building or structure which is unfit for use or habitation, or which is unsafe, or unsanitary, or a fire menace, or a danger to life or health, shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance.
Full Breakdown
Lyon County Code section 6.01.02(A) declares any building or structure which is unfit for use or habitation, or which is unsafe, unsanitary, a fire menace, or a danger to life or health, to be a public nuisance in unincorporated Lyon County. Subsection (B) extends liability to any person who maintains, uses, or permits such a building or structure to remain on premises they own or occupy, deeming that person guilty of maintaining a nuisance. The Board of County Commissioners' designated officers, including the office of the district attorney and code enforcement officers, determine under 6.01.03 whether a structure meets that standard and may issue a criminal misdemeanor citation independent of any civil abatement action.
Notice procedures mirror the general nuisance process: the owner or occupant must be notified under 6.01.05 by personal delivery, mail, or posting, and the notice under 6.01.06 must describe the nature and location of the blight and the deadline to correct it. If the owner fails to abate within the time set, section 6.01.08 lets the Board order the owner or occupant to appear and show cause before the county removes or abates the structure at the owner's expense, with costs recoverable as a special assessment lien under 6.01.09 that the county clerk/treasurer can enforce by sale of the property if unpaid.
Judicial proceedings do not bar this abatement track, and the county may pursue a civil collection suit or criminal prosecution concurrently under 6.01.10, so a blighted-structure case can carry both a misdemeanor citation and a lien against the parcel at the same time.
Violations & Fines
Under section 6.01.11, chapter 1 nuisance violations, including maintaining an unsafe or unsanitary structure, carry the general penalty set in section 1.04.01: prosecution as a misdemeanor under Nevada Revised Statutes standards, or a civil infraction penalty of not more than $500 per offense where the code treats it as non-criminal, with each day the condition continues counted as a separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides if a Lyon County structure is a public nuisance?
Can Lyon County force the sale of my property over an unsafe building?
Can I be prosecuted and still have to pay for abatement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lyon County
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