Georgetown, KY Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Georgetown handles rodent conditions on private property through its nuisance chapter rather than a separate vector-control chapter. Section 26-2(5) prohibits such an accumulation on any premises of filth, refuse, trash, garbage or other waste material that it endangers the public health, welfare or safety, or materially interferes with the peaceful enjoyment of adjacent property. The code names the triggers: the danger of catching or communicating fire, attracting and propagating vermin, rodents or insects, or blowing into any street, sidewalk or property of another.

The same item adds a duty for drive-in businesses, meaning establishments whose patrons buy goods or services from their automobiles. Owners or people in charge must furnish sufficient covered receptacles for wastes, and must clean up wastes not deposited in receptacles at the close of business each day, or at least once each day if the business operates continuously. Cleanup is also required at other times when weather is blowing waste onto adjoining premises.

Section 26-2(7) covers open storage of equipment, furnishings, appliances, scrap or salvage materials, including metal, lumber, masonry and other building materials not actively being used for construction. It applies when the storage is dangerous to public health, safety or welfare, or creates an unsightly condition that would reduce property value or promote urban blight. The item does not apply where KRS 65.8840 or other state or federal law permits the storage, or where the items are in a fully enclosed structure in a manner that prevents them from being a fire hazard or a harborage of pests and rodents.

Under § 26-4, the owner or operator does not have to have created the condition. Contributions by licensees, invitees or guests count, as does anything the owner ought to have known about with reasonable care. A code enforcement officer starts enforcement under § 2-835 by issuing a citation after personal observation or investigation.