Queen Anne's County, MD Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

In unincorporated Queen Anne's County, § 15-6 of the County Code requires that the premises of a residential structure be free from infestation of insects, rodents, vermin, or other pests. The chapter reaches rentals and multi-unit housing. Section 15-3 excludes owner-occupied single-family housing units, and the incorporated towns such as Centreville and Queenstown run their own codes.

The building itself is part of the rule. Under § 15-6, each foundation, exterior wall, roof and other exterior surface must be kept in good repair and in such condition as to exclude rodents and other pests, and every window, door and frame must be maintained to exclude rain and rodents as completely as possible. From April 1 to December 1, each door, window or other outside opening used for ventilation needs a tight-fitting insect screen. With prior approval, the Code Official can excuse screens on openings such as those equipped with air conditioning units or openings above the fourth floor. Premises must also stay free from any accumulation of rubbish or garbage. Section 15-1 defines extermination as eliminating harborage places, removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as food, or using poison spraying, fumigation, trapping or another method that has all required approvals.

Section 15-12 assigns the work. Before renting or leasing a structure, the property owner must exterminate within the structure and on the premises if necessary. In a structure with a single housing unit, the tenant exterminates insects, rodents and other pests, while the owner handles subterranean termites. In a structure with two or more housing units, the property owner or operator exterminates, unless the tenant's failure to take reasonable action to prevent the infestation caused it.

Infestation also feeds the condemnation rules. Under § 15-13 D, a structure that is vermin or rodent infested is unfit for human occupancy, and § 15-15 requires a demolition order for a structure that is vermin infested to the point of creating a hazard and not worth repairing.