Acworth, GA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Acworth Code § 52-1(2)
- Who can complain
- Any city official or inhabitant, § 52-2
- Notice before hearing
- 5 days' notice to owner or tenant
- City abatement authority
- Chief of police can abate directly, § 52-3
- Cost recovery
- Abatement cost billed and liened on property
- Vacant-property rule
- § 52-102(4) bars rodent breeding conditions
Summary
Acworth's nuisance code makes it a code violation to keep "any fruit, vegetable, animal or rodent" on a property that turns odorous or capable of spreading disease, letting any resident or city official file a complaint that goes to municipal court for an abatement order.
(2)Any dead or decaying matter; weeds; vegetation; or any fruit, vegetable, animal or rodent, upon a premises which is odorous or capable of causing disease or annoyance to the inhabitants of the city; ... (a)If the owner, agent in control or tenant in possession of a property upon which a nuisance exists fails to abate the nuisance in the time specified by the judge as set forth in section 52-2, ... or if the ... nature of the nuisance is such, in the opinion of the judge, that it must be immediately abated, the judge may issue an order to the chief of police directing the nuisance to be abated.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 27).
Full Breakdown
" That general standard applies citywide to any property, not just vacant ones, and pairs with a narrower vacant-structure rule in § 52-102(4), which separately requires exterior walls and roofs be kept free of holes and deterioration "so as to keep such building from becoming a breeding place for rodents, roaches and disease-carrying insects" on any registered vacant property. Under § 52-2, any official or inhabitant of the city can direct a rodent-nuisance complaint to the city department that handles it; that department investigates and can place the matter on the municipal court docket.
After five days' notice to the property owner, agent, or tenant, the court holds a hearing and, on finding a nuisance exists, issues an abatement order giving the owner a deadline the judge sets based on the nuisance and its public effect. If the deadline passes, or the owner or occupant can't be served, or the judge decides the condition needs immediate action, § 52-3 lets the judge order the chief of police to abate it directly, with the city's cost of abatement billed to the owner and recorded as a lien on the property.
Acworth's mayor also retains a stand-alone summary-abatement power under § 52-4 for any nuisance per se or genuine public-health emergency, bypassing the standard notice-and-hearing process entirely.
Violations & Fines
There's no fixed rodent-specific fine; abatement runs through the municipal court process in §§ 52-2 and 52-3, and a property owner who ignores an abatement order faces the city performing the abatement itself, billing the full cost of the work as a debt collectible "as for city revenues generally," which becomes a lien on the property until paid, on top of whatever general penalty the court imposes under § 1-11.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is having rodents on my property automatically illegal in Acworth?
Who investigates a rodent complaint?
What happens if I don't fix a rodent problem after a court order?
Does the rodent rule apply differently to vacant buildings?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Acworth
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