Gordon County, GA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Declared hazard
- Excessive breeding of rodents, flies, mosquitoes, insects and vermin
- Who decides
- Health officer, the county director of health or representative
- Numeric threshold
- None printed; the health officer judges the conditions
- Court
- Citation to magistrate court, appeals to superior court
- Penalty
- Fine up to $500, 60 days in jail, or both
- Repeat violations
- Each day is a separate offense
Summary
In unincorporated Gordon County, Georgia, conditions that encourage the excessive breeding of rodents, flies, mosquitoes or other insects and vermin are a declared health hazard, as determined by the health officer. Sections 6-110 and 6-111 bar any person from creating or maintaining one, and violations are cited into magistrate court.
The following are specifically declared to be health hazards: ... (2)Conditions conducive to the excessive breeding of rodents, flies, mosquitoes or other insects and vermin in relation to surrounding conditions as determined by the health officer. ... (4)Trash, garbage, refuse or any foul, decaying or putrescent material kept in such quantities or used in such a manner or place as to be or become offensive, objectionable or detrimental to health or well-being. ... No person shall create, maintain, support, aid or continue a health hazard.
Full Breakdown
The rodent and vermin rule sits in Article V of Chapter 6, the Gordon County Health Hazard Ordinance. It defines a health hazard as whatever is dangerous or detrimental to human life or health and whatever renders or tends to render soil, air, water or food impure or unwholesome, then lists specific hazards in Section 6-110. Item (2) covers conditions conducive to the excessive breeding of rodents, flies, mosquitoes or other insects and vermin. The article sets no count, distance or square-foot threshold for rodents. The health officer, who is the county director of health or an authorized representative, decides whether conditions are excessive in relation to the surrounding conditions.
Item (4) reaches the piles that feed a rodent problem: trash, garbage, refuse or any foul, decaying or putrescent material kept in such quantities or used in such a manner or place as to be or become offensive, objectionable or detrimental to health or well-being. Item (5) adds a housing standard for animals and fowl, requiring enclosures to be well drained and free from accumulations of animal excrement, and it keeps hogs 900 feet, horses and cows 75 feet, and dogs, rabbits and fowl 25 feet from any occupied building other than the owner's dwelling. Bona fide commercial agricultural enterprises are exempt from parts of item (5). Section 6-111 then makes it unlawful for any person to create, maintain, support, aid or continue a health hazard.
Section 6-109 limits the article so that it creates no power or duty in conflict with the preemptive effect of federal or state law.
Violations & Fines
Enforcement runs through the health officer. On information of a violation, the health officer causes a citation to be issued requiring the violator to appear before the judge of the magistrate court on a set day and time (Section 6-112). A conviction is punished under Section 1-7: a fine of up to $500, up to 60 days in the county jail, or both, and each day counts as a separate offense. Under Section 6-113 the violation is also a continuing hazard that the county can abate through an injunction in superior court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does unincorporated Gordon County regulate rodent infestations on private property?
Who decides when rodent breeding is excessive?
What is the penalty for a rodent-harboring property?
Do people who keep animals face extra sanitation rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Gordon County
Compare Gordon County to another location·View the Georgia public health rules overview
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