Bay County, MI Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

314 of the Nuisance Code (Part 42, Article III) declares the presence of rats, mice, cockroaches, or any other vermin, or the traces, droppings, trails, runs or other evidence of their presence, to be a public nuisance whether on public or private property. When the Health Officer, or an authorized representative of the Bay County Health Department's Environmental Health Division, determines in their opinion that a premises is infested or contains harborages, habitations or potential habitations for vermin, the owner and occupant are considered in violation of the Code for maintaining a public nuisance.

Once served with proper notice, the owner or occupant must abate the conditions and prevent the infestation from recurring. 316, which places joint and several responsibility for abatement on the owner, the person in possession, and anyone else with control or management of the premises, and which makes it unlawful to willfully refuse or neglect a duly served order. Because the ordinance is administered by the Health Department rather than a code-enforcement office, complaints about rodent or vermin harborages, such as uncovered trash, accumulated debris or open food waste, are investigated as a health nuisance, and the Health Officer can order specific corrective steps rather than simply cite the property.