720 ILCS 5/47-5 – Public Nuisance
This law lists things that are considered public nuisances because they harm people’s health, safety, or comfort.
This Illinois law explains actions that count as public nuisances, like polluting water, leaving trash or dead animals out, blocking roads, or creating unsafe or unhealthy conditions. It also gives local leaders the power to stop and clean up these nuisances.
(1) It is a public nuisance to leave dead animals, filth, or other smelly or harmful materials where they bother others.
(2) It is a public nuisance to throw or leave dead animals, garbage, or unpleasant materials in any water, street, or public area.
(3) It is a public nuisance to make water in springs, rivers, ponds, or lakes dirty or unsafe for others.
(4) It is a public nuisance to block a navigable river or waters without permission.
(5) It is a public nuisance to block public roads, paths, alleys, or areas used by the community.
(6) It is a public nuisance to make or mix explosives like gunpowder or nitroglycerin within about 330 feet of another valuable building that was already there.
(7) It is a public nuisance to keep a storage place for explosives near a town or within about 825 feet of an occupied home unless allowed by local rules.
(8) It is a public nuisance to use a building or place for work or manufacturing that gives off bad smells, fumes, or is dangerous to people’s health.
(9) It is a public nuisance to paint or post ads on private property, fences, rocks, or public places without permission.
(10) It is a public nuisance to leave an unused oil, gas, or other type of well open or unplugged.
(11) It is a public nuisance to operate a pit for oil or salt water waste that lets those liquids leak out in ways other than by safe evaporation or burning.
(12) It is a public nuisance to leave behind equipment or holes from an old oil or gas well without cleaning them up and fixing the land as it was before drilling.
(13) It is a public nuisance to let oil, gas, or waste from a well leak onto the surface, into fresh water, mines, or between underground layers.
(14) It is a public nuisance to threaten or harass someone buying, selling, or renting a home or property.
(15) It is a public nuisance to store trash, tires, cans, or other junk in a way that lets bugs or rodents breed or cause health problems.
(16) It is a public nuisance to let a pool or natural water area become a place where mosquitoes or other pests grow that could harm people’s health.
(17) It is a public nuisance to run a tanning business without the proper permit.
Local city or county governments can also decide what counts as a nuisance and have the power to remove or fix these nuisances. Counties can only do this in areas not part of a city or town.
Contact us online or call (314) 900-HELP to talk with a Southern Illinois criminal defense lawyer.
