Spalding County, GA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Core duty
- Structures/exterior kept free of rodent harborage
- When rodents found
- Prompt extermination by approved, safe methods
- After elimination
- Must remove harborage, prevent reinfestation
- Enforcing agency
- Community Development director or designee
- Penalty basis
- Sec. 1-1007 general penalty, per-day offense
- Adopted
- Ord. No. 2025-77, July 7, 2025
Summary
Unincorporated Spalding County property owners must keep structures and exterior areas free of rodent harborage under Sec. 8-3005 of the county code. Where rodents turn up, the owner must exterminate them through approved, non-injurious methods and then take precautions to stop reinfestation, backed by the code's general nuisance and penalty provisions.
Structures and exterior property shall be kept free from rodent harborage and infestation. Where rodents are found, they shall be promptly exterminated by approved processes that will not be injurious to human health. After pest elimination, proper precautions shall be taken to eliminate rodent harborage and prevent reinfestation.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 8-3005, part of the Exterior Property Areas chapter rewritten by Ord. No. 2025-77 on July 7, 2025, requires that structures and exterior property in unincorporated Spalding County be kept free from rodent harborage and infestation. The rule is a continuing duty rather than a one-time fix: once rodents are found on a property, the owner or occupant must have them promptly exterminated using approved processes that will not injure human health, and after the pests are eliminated, must take proper precautions to eliminate the harborage conditions that attracted them and prevent the property from becoming reinfested.
The section sits alongside the county's sanitation duty in Sec. 8-3001, which requires exterior property to be kept clean, safe and sanitary, and its insect-screen requirement in Sec. 8-3006, all enforced by the same public officer, the director of the department of community development or a designee, who is designated under Sec. 8-2002 to investigate and act on nuisance conditions. A property that harbors rodents can also be treated as a public nuisance under Sec. 8-2002 if the infestation rises to an endangerment to public health or safety, triggering the abatement and lien procedures in that section.
Routine enforcement, however, proceeds as a code violation subject to the general penalty in Sec. 1-1007, which makes each day a violation continues a separate offense.
Violations & Fines
A rodent-harborage violation is enforced under Sec. 1-1007, Spalding County's general penalty section: each day the infestation or unaddressed harborage condition continues after notice is a separate offense, carrying a fine and imprisonment up to the maximum Georgia law allows for county ordinance violations, currently one thousand dollars or sixty days, or both. Severe cases can be escalated to the public nuisance and lien process in Sec. 8-2002.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Spalding County require property owners to control rodents?
What has to happen after rodents are exterminated on a property?
Who enforces the rodent harborage rule in unincorporated Spalding County?
Can a rodent infestation be treated as a public nuisance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spalding County
Compare Spalding County to another location·View the Georgia public health rules overview
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