Brown County, WI Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing agency
- Brown County Public Health Dept.
- Penalty
- $5-$500 forfeiture plus costs
- Nonpayment
- Up to 90 days in county jail
- Cited provision
- § 38.01(3)(b) breeding places
Summary
Brown County's public health code bans letting trash, rotting lumber or other debris pile up if it becomes a breeding place for rats or other vermin, enforced countywide by the Health Officer.
Breeding Places for Vermin, etc. Accumulations of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material, scrap metal or any material in which flies, mosquitoes, disease carrying insects, rats or other vermin can breed.
38(1)
(c) Water Pollution. The pollution of any well or cistern, stream, lake, canal or other body of water by sewage, industrial wastes, fertilizers and toxic pesticides, or other substances harmful to human beings.
(d) Noxious Odors, etc. Any use of property, substances or things within the County emitting or causing any foul, offensive, noisome, noxious or disagreeable odors, gases, effluent or stenches extremely repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons which annoy, discomfort, injury or inconvenience the health of any appreciable number of persons within the County.
(e) Air Pollution. The escape of smoke, soot, cinders, noxious acids, fumes, gases, fly ash, industrial dust or other atmospheric pollutants within the County in such quantities as to endanger the health of persons of ordinary sensibilities.
(f) Animal Waste. Accumulations of the bodily waste from all domestic animals and fowl that are handled, stored or disposed of in a manner that creates a health hazard to any appreciable number of persons within the County.
Full Breakdown
Brown County Code § 38.01(3) names accumulations of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material or scrap metal in which flies, mosquitoes, disease-carrying insects, rats or other vermin can breed as a declared public health nuisance. Section 38.01(2) separately bars anyone in the county from erecting, causing or maintaining any public nuisance, and the Brown County Public Health Department's Health Officer enforces both provisions against the property where the material accumulates.
Violations & Fines
Anyone who causes, creates or maintains the nuisance is guilty under § 38.01(2) and subject to the § 38.03 penalty: a forfeiture of not less than $5 nor more than $500 plus prosecution costs, with up to 90 days in county jail if the forfeiture and costs go unpaid.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a vermin breeding nuisance in Brown County?
What happens if the property isn't cleaned up?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Brown County
Compare Brown County to another location·View the Wisconsin public health rules overview
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