Galveston County Sheriff's Office
About The Nuisance Abatement Division
In January 2025 Sheriff Jimmy Fullen assumed administration of the Nuisance Abatement Program. The Sheriff immediately formed the Nuisance Abatement Division. The division is a fully staffed unit that is part of the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Goal.
Nuisance Abatement Tasks
(1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained in a closed receptacle;
(2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood or within 300 feet of a public street for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible from a public street;
(3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or other disease-carrying pests;
(4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another residence or commercial establishment;
(5) maintaining a building in a manner that is structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard.
Nuisance Abatement is a vital component in crime reduction and neighborhood safety. The Galveston Sheriff’s Office is committed to safe communities and by adding the Nuisance Abatement Division within the Sheriff’s Office we are able to eliminate several levels of bureaucracy and bring resolution to the situation sooner.
The division is staffed with full-time subject matter experts with years of operational experience. The Nuisance Abatement Team will respond to any unincorporated areas within Galveston County to investigate complaints. The Team seeks to FOSTER COMPLIANCE with residents, property owners, and business owners and operators within our county. However, failed compliance leads to more punitive actions, which includes fines, and in certain cases the team will have the work done (Corrective Action) and levy a lien on the property.
If at the expiration of this time, the same condition exists an no just cause shown, such further action will be taken, as the law requires, which upon conviction could result in fins and the removal of the nuisance by the Sheriff’s Office. If the Sheriff’s Office is ordered to abate the nuisance a lien will be placed against the property to include all cost associated with the cleanup.
If at the expiration of this time, the same conditions exist and no just cause shown, such further action will be taken, as the law requires, which upon conviction could result in fines and the removal of the nuisance by the Sheriff’s Office. If the Sheriff’s Office is ordered to abate the nuisance a lien will be placed against the property to include all costs associated with the cleanup.