Overland Park, KS Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Applies to
- All business buildings: hotels, apartments, stores, warehouses
- Standard
- Rat-proof and rat-free at all times
- Storage rule
- Lumber and bottles must sit 18 inches off ground
- Enforcer
- Environmental Health Administrator, City of Overland Park
- Escalation
- Noncomplying business can be closed or condemned
- Penalty
- Up to $500 fine and/or 6 months jail per day
Summary
Overland Park's Rat Control chapter requires every business building, including apartments, hotels, restaurants and warehouses, to be rat-proofed and kept rat-free to the Environmental Health Administrator's satisfaction. Owners who receive a ratproofing notice must act immediately, and anyone letting garbage or loose lumber accumulate in a way that shelters rats is separately breaking the law.
It is required that all business buildings in the City shall be rat-proof, freed of rats, and maintained in a rat-proof and rat-free condition to the satisfaction of the Administrator.
Full Breakdown
010(B)). 020 requires every such building to be rat-proof, freed of rats, and maintained rat-proof and rat-free to the Administrator's satisfaction. 030 gives the owner a set compliance window, and failing to finish within that time, or an approved extension, is itself a separate offense. 050 obligates owners of already rat-proofed buildings to keep repairing any new breaks on their own, without waiting for another city order. The Administrator can make routine interior and exterior inspections and can close a business building that provides extensive rat harborage until conditions are corrected, or pursue condemnation of a noncomplying structure.
150 requires lumber, boxes, bottles and similar stored materials to sit on open racks at least 18 inches off the ground if the Administrator finds the pile susceptible to rat harborage. Both accumulation rules exempt property annexed under Ordinance No. A-2719 that still carries its original RUR, PRUR, RLD or PRLD zoning.
Violations & Fines
Any violation of Chapter 7.32, from an unratproofed business building to an illegal accumulation of garbage or unelevated lumber, is a public offense under § 7.32.160, punished under OPMC § 1.12.010: a fine of up to $500, up to six months in jail, or both, and each day the condition continues is a separate offense. Beyond fines, § 7.32.070 lets the Administrator close a business building suffering rat harborage until it is corrected, and § 7.32.080 authorizes condemnation of a noncomplying building.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Overland Park regulate rats on residential property?
What happens after the city sends a ratproofing notice?
Can the city shut down a business over a rat problem?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Overland Park
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Rodent Control in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Johnson County handle rodent control.