Texas counties can't zone, but Bell County's commissioners court can abate a defined public nuisance in unincorporated areas under Health & Safety Code Chapter 343, including accumulated junk and structurally unsafe buildings. Inside Killeen or Temple, city nuisance code applies.
Bell County has no general property-maintenance code, but state law (H&S Ch. 343) lets the commissioners court declare and abate specific public nuisances in the unincorporated county: accumulated rubbish, unsafe structures, and pest-harboring conditions. The county must give written notice and time to correct before abating and placing a lien for costs. Within a city, that city's code governs (Killeen Chapter 18 nuisances; Temple Chapter 40). Fort Cavazos is federal land, not county-regulated. Enforcement is complaint-driven and limited compared with a zoning city.
Maintaining a public nuisance is punishable by a fine of $50-$200 (first offense) and up to $1,000 and six months' jail for later offenses; each day is a separate offense.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Bell County, TX
Texas has no specific 'hoarding' statute, but keeping animals without adequate food, water, care, or shelter, or cruelly confining them, is animal cruelty, a...
Bell County, TX
Bell County has no ordinance banning the feeding of wildlife, and Texas has no general statewide ban either. Feeding game such as deer is legal but discourag...
Bell County, TX
Bell County has no composting ordinance. Home composting is unrestricted on unincorporated land. Texas law bars HOAs from prohibiting composting, though citi...
Bell County, TX
Bell County has no zoning and does not regulate artificial turf. On unincorporated land it is unrestricted. Cities may limit synthetic turf in front yards th...
Bell County, TX
Bell County has no landscaping ordinance and cannot require or forbid native plants. Texas law protects drought-resistant and water-conserving landscaping fr...
Bell County, TX
Rainwater harvesting is legal statewide and encouraged in Texas. Bell County sets no restriction. State law bars a homeowners' association from prohibiting r...
See how Bell County's property blight rules stack up against other locations.
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