Rock Island County, IL Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

County Code Sec. 04 puts the mowing duty on the owner, lessee, or occupant of any private parcel of five acres or less. When weeds are found growing, the Health Department Administrator serves written notice; if the property is occupied, notice goes by mail to the address, but if the lot is vacant the county may simply post the notice on the property itself, since there is no occupant to receive mail. The notice must describe the parcel well enough to identify it and warns that the weeds must be cut within ten days or the county will cut them and charge the cost back to the owner.

If the ten days pass with no action, the Administrator has the weeds cut at county expense and then collects the reasonable cost from the owner. If the owner does not pay within ten more days, the Administrator files a lien against the property in the Recorder of Deeds' office, exactly like a mechanic's lien. Notably, the ordinance states that an owner's failure to actually receive the mailed or posted notice does not excuse the mowing duty or invalidate the resulting lien, which matters most for absentee owners of vacant unimproved parcels who never see the posted notice in person.

This section sits in the county's general nuisance chapter alongside the inoperable-vehicle and general nuisance rules, and applies only in the unincorporated area since incorporated cities and villages inside the county administer their own property maintenance codes.