County Attorney To Start Enforcing Rental Requirements

By Gordon HopkinsThe City of Fairbury has begun enforcing municipal code violations and Jefferson County Attorney Joseph Casson recently announced his intention to make ensuring all rental properties have a Certificate of Occupancy a priority. At a meeting of the Jefferson County Commissioners on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, Casson said, “One of the areas we’re going to start focusing on is, if you own a rental house, you can’t have an occupant in that house without a Certificate of Occupancy. You can’t get a Certificate of Occupancy unless the house is inspected and meets a certain code.” The rental process requires that owners who wish to rent a property must submit an application for a Certificate of Occupancy and pay a fee. According to the city’s website, “As of April 1, 2015 no person shall rent, lease or occupy any rental dwelling or rental dwelling unit that does not have a Certificate of Occupancy under the rental ordinance from the City. The Certificate of Occupancy is not transferable between landlords or rental units and shall be valid for 12 months following its date of issuance.”In 2018 the city opted to dissolve the Fairbury City Police Department and turn law enforcement duties over to the county. When the original contract was implemented, the city hired a Code Enforcement Officer to deal with certain complaints outside the purview of the sheriff’s office, including rental inspections. Earlier this year, Jefferson County signed an interlocal agreement with Fairbury to prosecute ordinance violations.Casson said, “When we talk to the Mayor (Spencer Brown) about how this is going to work, we may need more resources, which means another code person to try to keep up with this, because there are lots and lots of rental houses that don’t have Certificates of Occupancy.”Commissioner Gale Pohlmann opined, “We’re going to have a bunch of homeless people.”Casson said, “Well, that could very well be but they shouldn’t be in a house that’s not safe.”

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