How to report rats and mice in Waco

Published November 4, 2026

Rats on a neighbor's junk-filled lot go to Waco Code Compliance through the MyWaco portal or by email. Mice at a restaurant go to the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District's Environmental Health division. Rodents inside your own home are yours to handle, usually with a licensed provider.

Who handles what

Rodent complaints in Waco split three ways, and knowing which one you have saves time.

• Rodents inside your own home or yard: you handle it, usually with a licensed pest control provider.
• A neighboring property, vacant lot or rental with junk, trash, open storage or high weeds that’s feeding rats: Waco Code Compliance.
• A restaurant, food truck, grocery or other place that sells or serves food: the Environmental Health division of the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.

If you rent and the problem is inside your unit, start with your landlord in writing. The tenant and landlord guide covers that.

Waco Code Compliance

Code Compliance is a division of the City’s Development Services department, based at the Dr. Mae Jackson Development Center, 401 Franklin Avenue. Its page lists what the division enforces, and several items matter for rodents:

• Property maintenance under the International Property Maintenance Code, 2024 edition
• Litter and junk: accumulated trash, wood debris, building materials, indoor furniture, appliances, tires and car parts on occupied or vacant property
• Open storage of items like appliances, carpet, upholstered furniture, tires and auto parts at a residence
• Illegal dumping, which the page says gets ticketed immediately
• High grass and weeds over 12 inches
• Substandard structures and junked vehicles

The page notes that high weeds can attract mosquitoes and rodents. It doesn’t list rodents themselves as something the division enforces. That means you report the condition (the junk pile, the overgrown lot, the trash), and mention the rats as the reason it matters.

How to report to Code Compliance

The City’s page gives these options:

• The MyWaco app or portal, at wacotx.citysourced.com
• Email to 311code@wacotx.gov
• Phone, using the Code Compliance number listed on the City’s page
• For illegal dumping, the City’s general customer line listed on the same page

Give the address or the nearest cross streets, describe what you see and when you saw it, and attach photos if the portal allows. A photo of a trash pile and a burrow next to it says more than a paragraph.

What happens next

For high grass and weeds, the Code Compliance page says owners get 7 days to comply, and property with growth over 48 inches can be mowed without prior notice. The City lists fees for work it does on a property, including $200 for mowing a lot and a $15 lien filing fee for the first page. Fees and liens fall on the property owner, not on the neighbor who reported it.

State law backs this up. Texas Health and Safety Code Section 342.004 lets a city require owners to keep property free from weeds, brush and certain public nuisance conditions.

Code Compliance fixes the condition. It doesn’t trap rats that already live next door, and it won’t come into your house. While you wait, close your own gaps and remove food sources. The trash and yard rules guide covers what you can do on your side of the fence.

Food businesses: the health district

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District’s Environmental Health division inspects places where food is stored, prepared, served or sold, including restaurants, schools, nursing homes and farmers markets. Its office is at 201 W. Waco Drive, on the second floor in Suite 205, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The division’s email is envhealth@wacotx.gov.

Its page doesn’t spell out a separate complaint form for food businesses. The City’s general comments channel is the MyWaco portal. Emailing the division directly with the business name, address, date and what you saw is a reasonable route.

Complaints do get looked at. In late November 2025, KWTX reported that Environmental Health was investigating mice at a Waco movie theater after several customers reported rodents during screenings. The station said staff had done onsite inspections and were in contact with management one to three times a week.

The restaurant rules guide explains what inspectors look for and how scores are reported.

Businesses and public buildings under state law

Texas Health and Safety Code Section 341.018 says a person who possesses an enclosed structure used for public trade, and knows it’s infested with rodents, must try to exterminate them “by poisoning, trapping, fumigating, or other appropriate means” and provide every practical means of eliminating rats in the structure. That applies to stores and other businesses, not only restaurants.

If you live outside Waco

Woodway, Hewitt, Robinson, Bellmead, Lacy Lakeview and McGregor are separate cities with their own code enforcement. China Spring is unincorporated, so county rules apply there. Contact your own city first.

Bellmead is a good example of a city with its own rules. In 2023 it adopted Ordinance 2023-09, a rodent control article in its nuisance chapter. It requires premises to be kept free of rodents, food and feed to be stored in rodent-proof containers, garbage to be kept in rodent-proof containers, and lumber and firewood to be raised at least 15 inches off the ground when the enforcement officer asks and there’s evidence of rodents. The Bellmead page summarizes it.

What to write in a report

A good report is short and specific:

• The address, or the closest address and a description of the lot
• What you see: a junk pile, an overflowing dumpster, trash bags on the ground, grass over your knees, an open shed
• Rodent signs: rats seen at dusk, burrows along a fence, droppings, a smell
• How long it’s been going on
• Photos, if you can take them from your own property or the street

Keep your own record of the date you reported and any reference number the portal gives you. If nothing changes, a follow-up with the same reference number is more useful than a new report.

Handling your own side

A report takes time. Meanwhile, rats from a neighboring lot will test your house. Walk your foundation and roofline for gaps. Keep your gray cart lid closed and pet food indoors. Pull woodpiles and stored items off the ground and away from the fence. If you’re already seeing signs inside, a rodent inspection tells you where they’re getting in, and rat burrow treatment handles burrows along your side of the fence.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. City contact details change, so check the linked official pages.