Lawton, OK Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 15-1-110(A) of the Lawton City Code, enacted under authority granted by Section 1-1011 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, lets the city order the owner or occupant of any private premises to remove, at their own expense, any source of filth, cause of sickness, condition conducive to the breeding of insects or rodents that might contribute to disease transmission, or any other condition harming public health. The order must be in writing, sets a compliance window of twenty-four hours or such other time as is reasonable, and can be served personally on the owner, occupant or authorized agent, left at their last known abode, or, if the premises are unoccupied and the responsible party cannot be found in state, served by posting on the property or by newspaper publication.

If the order is not obeyed, Section 15-1-110(B) authorizes the city to execute the abatement itself and certify the cost; for an owner or occupant who is a city water or utility customer, the abatement cost is added directly to that utility bill and becomes subject to the same delinquency rules as the rest of the bill. If the responsible party is not a city utility user, the cost is instead certified to the county for placement on the ad valorem tax rolls, or pursued through any other lawful debt-collection method. This health-nuisance process runs alongside the broader summary abatement power in Section 15-1-109, which lets the city manager act immediately against a nuisance posing a grave and immediate danger, subject to the affected owner's right to a city council hearing on written appeal.