Jefferson County, WI Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Section 18-33 sits in Chapter 18's Article II, Environmental Sanitation, alongside the county's other lodging and food-service licenses (hotels/motels/tourist roominghouses under § 18-34, campgrounds under § 18-35). It provides that "No person, party, firm or corporation shall operate a bed and breakfast establishment as defined in Wis. Admin Code ch. ATCP 73 for more than ten nights in a year without first obtaining an annual license from the department," and folds the state administrative code's substantive standards for bed-and-breakfast operations into the county ordinance by reference, so any operator acting "contrary to the terms and conditions of this article or Wis.

Admin. Code ch. ATCP 73 and Wis. ch. 97" is in violation. The ten-night threshold is the operative trigger: an owner who rents out a room fewer than ten nights per year falls outside the license requirement, while anyone renting more nights must apply to the county health department, pay the license and pre-inspection fees under § 18-22, and post the license in plain public view under § 18-26. Because § 18-19 excludes the City of Watertown from Article II's reach, a bed-and-breakfast host inside Watertown answers to the city's own health authority instead of the county.

The county treats the license the same as its other Article II licenses for renewal and enforcement: the license period runs from July 1 through the following June 30 under § 18-24, and it is not transferable between operators.