Smyrna, TN Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Two sections of the Smyrna Municipal Code work together on rodent and vermin control. Section 13-109, Health and Sanitation Nuisances, makes it unlawful for any person to permit premises owned, occupied, or controlled by him or her to become or remain in a filthy condition, to create noxious or offensive smells and odors, or to allow the accumulation or creation of unwholesome and offensive matter or the breeding of flies, rodents, or other vermin on the premises to the menace of the public health or the annoyance of people residing within the vicinity. The section reaches owners, occupants, and anyone who controls the premises.

Section 10-104(B), in the animal control title, adds a storage rule: all feed shall be stored and kept in a rat-proof and fly-tight building, box, or receptacle. Section 10-104(A) pairs it with a requirement that no animal or fowl be kept where food, water, shelter, and ventilation are not adequate. Section 10-103 requires the building, structure, corral, pen, or enclosure where animals or fowls are kept to be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition at all times, and Section 10-105 forbids keeping an animal or fowl in a place or condition that becomes a nuisance because of noise, odor, contagious disease, or another reason.

Property conditions that feed rodents have their own sections. Section 13-104 prohibits growth of trees, vines, grass, and underbrush or accumulations of debris, trash, litter, or garbage that encourage the infestation of rats and other harmful animals, and it lets the town clean the lot at the owner's expense after a ten-day notice. Section 13-105 bars open storage of any abandoned motor vehicle, ice box, refrigerator, stove, glass, building material, building rubbish, or similar items. Section 13-106 requires contractors and owners to keep construction and demolition sites free of litter, and Section 13-107 requires a dead animal not intended for use as food to be promptly buried or reported to the Town Clerk and disposed of as the codes enforcement and inspection division directs.

The codes enforcement and inspection division, which Section 12-903 charges with enforcing the town's health codes, is the office to contact about rodent complaints.