Receive and confirm the complaint-We receive the complaint and then investigate it to confirm that it is a violation of the Galveston County Nuisance Abatement regulations that are based upon Chapter 343 of the Texas Health and Safety Code and are applicable only in the unincorporated areas of the County. There are numerous other regulations and Statutes that apply to inside city limits.

Send a Notice of Violation-Per the regulation we send a Notice of Violation to the property owner and or the occupant of the property. The notice is regular and Certified Mail RRR giving the violator 30 days upon receipt to comply or contact us with a reasonable plan of action.

Filing Charges- After the time frame expires and the compliant is not corrected we file charges with the local Justice of the Peace (JP). The JP then will hear arguments from both sides and make a decision on where we go from there. Guilty pay a fine, guilty county correct and place a lien, guilty and grant a continuance (extension to comply), not guilty. We then comply with the court order.

No one receives the Certified Mail

Depending on the situation the County may or may not abate the nuisance.

Abating the nuisance the County will:

Get a title search to confirm actual ownership (the process starts over for each new owner – see receive complaint above)

Do a Citation–by-Publication and site posting (an additional 37 day warning)

Abate the nuisance and place a lien on the property for all of the costs occurred.