Sauk County, WI Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing agency
- Sauk County Health Department
- Penalty
- $50-$200 forfeiture per day (Sec. 28.015(6))
- Who must abate
- Property owner, even if tenant caused it
- Appeal path
- Sauk County Code Chapter 33
- County self-abatement
- Cost added to owner's property tax roll
Summary
Sauk County Code § 28.011 makes it a human health hazard to let trash, rotting lumber, scrap metal, or old tires pile up on unincorporated property where rats, flies, mosquitoes or other vermin can breed, live, or nest. The Sauk County Health Department investigates complaints and can order the owner to abate the condition.
(1)Human health hazards prohibited. No person shall erect, construe, cause, continue, maintain, or permit any human health hazard within Sauk County. ... (3)Human health hazards enumerated. The following, except to the extent as incorporated into approved agricultural practices, it not being the intent of this ordinance to regulate approved agricultural practices, are hereby expressly declared to be human health hazards without limitation by reason of such enumeration: ... (e)Causing or allowing unreasonable accumulation of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, garbage, rotting lumber, packing material, scrap metal, tires, or any other substances in which flies, mosquitoes, disease, carrying insects, rats, or other vermin can breed, live, nest, or seek shelter.
Full Breakdown
The Sauk County Human Health Hazards Ordinance, Sauk County Code Chapter 28, expressly lists 'unreasonable accumulation of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, garbage, rotting lumber, packing material, scrap metal, tires, or any other substances in which flies, mosquitoes, disease, carrying insects, rats, or other vermin can breed, live, nest, or seek shelter' as a human health hazard under Sec. 28.011(3)(e). This applies countywide, including unincorporated Sauk County, and covers any property owner, agent, or occupant who causes, creates, or maintains the condition. Sec.
28.011(2) puts abatement responsibility on the property owner even when a tenant is the one who caused the mess and refuses to fix it. The Sauk County Health Officer investigates suspected violations and, under Sec. 28.015, issues a written order specifying the violation, the correction deadline, and the penalty for noncompliance. If the owner ignores the order, the Health Officer may issue a citation carrying the forfeiture set in Sauk County Code Chapter 20, refer the matter to the Sauk County Corporation Counsel for a court-ordered forfeiture or injunction, or send county staff onto the property to abate the hazard directly and bill the cost through the property tax roll under the heading 'For Abatement of a Human Health Hazard.' Each day the condition continues is a separate offense under Sec.
28.015(6). A person aggrieved by a Health Officer decision can appeal under Sauk County Code Chapter 33, and the Health Officer must give notice of that appeal right.
Violations & Fines
Violating Sec. 28.011 carries a forfeiture of not less than $50.00 nor more than $200.00 per day under Sec. 28.015(6), plus penalty assessments and prosecution costs, and the Sauk County Circuit Court may also grant injunctive relief. Each day the vermin-breeding condition continues is charged as a new offense. Unpaid forfeitures can lead to jail time in the Sauk County Jail, and the county can abate the hazard itself and add the cost to the owner's tax bill.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of vermin problem violates Sauk County's code?
Is the landlord or the tenant responsible for cleanup?
What happens if the hazard is not fixed by the deadline?
Can I appeal a Health Officer's order?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sauk County
Compare Sauk County to another location·View the Wisconsin public health rules overview
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