Yakima County, WA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

5 of Yakima County's Property Maintenance Code puts the rodent-control duty on every structure and exterior property in the unincorporated county: they must be kept free of rodent harborage and infestation, and once rodents are found, the responsible party must exterminate them promptly using an approved method that isn't injurious to human health, then take precautions afterward to eliminate the harborage and prevent the rodents from coming back. 5 backs that up on the building side, requiring foundation walls to stay plumb and free of open cracks and breaks specifically so they keep rodents and other pests from entering the structure.

The code's Section 302 definitions describe 'pest elimination' as controlling and eliminating insects, rodents or other pests by removing their harborage places, cutting off access to food or water, or other approved methods, and 'infestation' as the presence of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests within or next to a structure or premises. A property with rodent harborage that also carries a health hazard can be cited under the broader nuisance definition of Section 302, which reaches conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to health as determined by the health officer.

As with other Property Maintenance Code standards, enforcement runs through Section 109's notice-and-abatement process: the code official can seek voluntary correction, then a notice of abatement with a compliance deadline, and if the property owner doesn't act, the county can send its own crew to abate the infestation and bill the cost as a lien against the property.