Collierville, TN Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

The core rule sits in Collierville Code of Ordinances § 50.02, enacted by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Subsection (A) requires all persons within the Town to keep their premises in a clean and sanitary condition, free from accumulations of refuse, except where stored as the chapter provides. Subsection (E) then sets the container standard: each owner, occupant or other responsible person where refuse accumulates or is likely to accumulate must provide, use and keep covered an adequate number of refuse containers, and those containers must be strong, durable and rodent and insect proof. The same subsection ties the standard to the Town cart, which has a capacity of 90 to 95 gallons and is provided by the Town after the registration fee set by resolution.

Enforcement runs through the Town Administrator or his or her designee. On finding unsanitary conditions, that official notifies the owner in writing, in person or by registered mail to the last known address, that the conditions must be remedied within ten days. Within that ten day period the owner can file a written appeal with the Town Administrator, who hears it within a reasonable time and decides whether the conditions exist and what corrective action, if any, is required. If the owner still does not fix the problem, the Town performs the corrective work and bills the owner within 30 days of the work. The bill becomes a lien on the property and can be enforced by suit as other Town tax liens are.

Two companion sections add detail. Section 50.15 requires residential occupants to keep their containers covered, caps the combined weight of a container and its contents at 75 pounds, and bars placing refuse in a container until it has been drained of all free liquids. Section 50.16 applies the covered-container duty to commercial premises. Separately, § 95.09 governs junk yards: junk must be kept so that it will not catch and hold water in which mosquitoes may breed and so that it will not be a place where rats, mice or other vermin may be harbored, reared or propagated. Junk yards must also be enclosed by a close fitting solid fence of plank or metal, touching the ground and at least six feet high.