§ 19a-206 — (Formerly Sec. 19-79). Duties of municipal directors of health. Nuisances and sources of filth. Injunctions. Civil penalties. Authority of town director within city or borough. Availability of relocation assistance.

Connecticut § 19a-206

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 19a: Public Health and Well-Being
• Ch. 368e: Municipal Health Authorities

Text

(a) Town, city and borough directors of health or their authorized agents shall, within their respective jurisdictions, examine all nuisances and sources of filth injurious to the public health, cause such nuisances to be abated or remediated and cause to be removed all filth which in their judgment may endanger the health of the inhabitants. Any owner or occupant of any property who maintains such property, whether real or personal, or any part thereof, in a manner which violates the provisions of the Public Health Code enacted pursuant to the authority of sections 19a-36 and 19a-37 shall be deemed to be maintaining a nuisance or source of filth injurious to the public health. Any local director of health or a local director of health's authorized agent or an environmental health specialist authorized by such director may enter all places within such director's jurisdiction where there is just cause to suspect any nuisance or source of filth exists, and abate or remediate or cause to be abated or remediated such nuisance and remove or cause to be removed such filth. (b) When any such nuisance or source of filth is found on private property, such director of health shall order the owner or occupant of such property, or both, to remove, abate or remediate the same within such time as the director directs. If the owner of such property is a registrant, such director may deliver the order in accordance with section 7-148ii , provided nothing in this section shall preclude a director from providing notice in another manner permitted by applicable law. If such order is not complied with within the time fixed by such director: (1) Such director, or any official of such town, city or borough authorized to institute actions on behalf of such town, city or borough, may institute and maintain a civil action for injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to require the abatement or remediation of such nuisance, the removal of such filth and the restraining and prohibiting of acts which caused such nuisance or filth, and such court shall have power to grant such injunctive relief upon notice and hearing; (2) (A) the owner or occupant of such property, or both, shall be subject to a civil penalty of two hundred fifty dollars per day for each day such nuisance is maintained or such filth is allowed to remain after the time fixed by the director in his order has expired, except that the owner or occupant of such property or any part thereof on which a public eating place is conducted shall not be subject to the provisions of this subdivision, but shall be subject to the provisions of subdivision (3) of this subsection, and (B) such civil penalty may be collected in a civil proceeding by the director of health or any official of such town, city or borough authorized to institute civil actions and shall be payable to the treasurer of such city, town or borough; and (3) the owner or occupant of such property, or both, shall be subject to the provisions of sections 19a-36 , 19a-220 and 19a-230 . (c) If the director institutes an action for injunctive relief seeking the abatement or remediation of a nuisance or the removal of filth, the maintenance of which is of so serious a nature as to constitute an immediate hazard to the health of persons other than the persons maintaining such nuisance or filth, he may, upon a verified complaint stating the facts which show such immediate hazard, apply for an ex parte injunction requiring the abatement or remediation of such nuisance or the removal of such filth and restraining and prohibiting the acts which caused such nuisance or filth to occur, and for a hearing on an order to show cause why such ex parte injunction should not be continued pending final determination on the merits of such action. If the court finds that an immediate hazard to the health of persons other than those persons maintaining such nuisance or source of filth exists, such ex parte injunction shall be issued, provided a hearing on its continuance pending final judgment is ordered held within seven days thereafter and provided further that any persons so enjoined may make a written request to the court or judge issuing such injunction for a hearing to vacate such injunction, in which event such hearing shall be held within three days after such request is filed. (d) In each town, except in a town having a city or borough within its limits, the town director of health shall have and exercise all the power for preserving the public health and preventing the spread of diseases; and, in any town within which there exists a city or borough, the limits of which are not coterminous with the limits of such town, such town director of health shall exercise the powers and duties of his office only in such part of such town as is outside the limits of such city or borough, except that when such city or borough has not appointed a director of health, the town director of health shall, for the purposes of this section, exercise the powers and duties of his office throughout the town, including such city or borough, until such city or borough appoints a director of health. (e) When such nuisance is abated or remediated or the source of filth is removed from private property, such abatement, remediation or removal shall be at the expense of the owner or, where applicable, the occupant of such property, or both, and damages and costs for such abatement, remediation or removal may be recovered against the owner or, where applicable, the occupant, or both, by the town, city or borough in a civil action as provided in subsection (b) of this section or in a separate civil action brought by the director of health or any official of such city, town or borough authorized to institute civil actions. (f) If the order of a district department of health, formed pursuant to section 19a-241 , causes the displacement of any occupant of a residential dwelling unit, the municipality in which such dwelling unit is located shall be responsible for any relocation assistance afforded to such occupant pursuant to chapter 135. The district department of health shall provide written notification to the occupant of the occupant's rights under chapter 135 at the time an order causing displacement is issued. The written notification shall include the name, address and telephone number of the person authorized by the municipality to process applications for relocation assistance afforded pursuant to chapter 135. See Sec. 21a-62 re power of local health authority to order analyses of foods and medicines or other articles for human consumption. See Sec. 26-192g re duties of local directors of health with regard to unauthorized taking of shellfish in contaminated or posted areas.

Legislative History

(1949 Rev., S. 3850; 1959, P.A. 445; P.A. 77-465; P.A. 87-521, S. 2; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-2, S. 55; P.A. 08-137, S. 2; P.A. 09-144, S. 5; P.A. 24-68, S. 22.) History: 1959 act added provision for director of health authorizing qualified person to act; P.A. 77-465 placed previous provisions in Subsecs. (a) and (d) and added new provisions in Subsecs. (b), (c) and (e) clarifying general provisions re maintaining nuisance or source of filth injurious to public health stated in Subsec. (a) and added exception in Subsec. (d) re town health director's jurisdiction in cities or boroughs lacking health directors of their own; Sec. 19-79 transferred to Sec. 19a-206 in 1983; P.A. 87-521 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for the delegation of duties to an authorized agent and a sanitarian and to make technical changes; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-2 amended Subsecs. (a) to (c) and (e) to add references to remediation, made technical changes in Subsecs. (b) and (e) and amended Subsec. (e) to subject owners or occupants of private property to liability for remediation, where applicable; P.A. 08-137 added Subsec. (f) re relocation assistance availability when district department of health order causes displacement of occupant of residential dwelling unit, effective June 5, 2008; P.A. 09-144 amended Subsec. (b) by allowing notice to be delivered to registrant in accordance with Sec. 7-148ii; P.A. 24-68 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “a sanitarian” with “an environmental health specialist” and making technical changes, effective July 1, 2024. Annotations to former section 19-79: Towns not liable for acts of health officers, acting in good faith, and doing no unnecessary damage; health officer is not liable for error of judgment when acting in good faith. 51 C. 93. No distinction between nuisances and filth as to power of health officer. Id., 98, 99. Filth and nuisances may be removed although not endangering health at time of removal. Id., 102. Duty to prevent spread of disease. 86 C. 677. A person cannot be charged with a crime under section until the time allowed in an order for compliance with its terms has expired. 148 C. 439. Cited. 170 C. 387; Id., 675. First selectmen of towns have never possessed any authority concerning matters affecting the public health. 8 CS 431. History and purpose discussed; the nuisances referred to are confined to those injurious to public health. 24 CS 242. Annotations to present section: Cited. 42 CA 631. Under 2005 revision, Subsec. (b) clearly and unambiguously authorizes local health directors to issue orders to landlords for public nuisance violations regardless of the landlords' involvement in the violations. 133 CA 710.