Blue Springs, MO Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 515.550 of the Blue Springs Property Maintenance Code sets a flat, mandatory standard: structures and exterior property must be kept free of rodent harborage and infestation, full stop. When rodents turn up, the owner or occupant must exterminate them through an approved process that will not injure human health, and after extermination must take proper precautions to eliminate the harborage conditions and stop the property from being reinfested. The chapter's broader nuisance definitions in Section 515.450 reinforce this by naming structures and exterior conditions that harbor rodents, including deteriorated roofs, walls, and window or door openings that give rodents and other wildlife a way in, as a nuisance condition the Code Official can act on, while excluding wildlife simply living in trees, shrubs or grass kept in a lawful condition.

The rule reaches beyond buildings into yard maintenance too: Section 515.590's composting standard separately requires every compost pile to be maintained so as to prevent rodent harborage, and the presence of rodents in or near a pile is itself grounds for the City to issue a complaint. Enforcement runs through the Code Official under Article IV, with notices issued under Section 515.180 and penalties assessed under Section 515.230 through the general fine schedule in Section 100.080, with each day a rodent-harborage condition continues after notice counting as a new offense.