Building permits, zoning and land rules in Menard County, Texas

Unincorporated Menard County does not require a building permit for a home, and the county's official website lists no building-permit office or program¹. Texas gives counties zoning and general building-permit power only in narrow, specific circumstances, and Menard County's own posted regulations cover subdivisions and manufactured home rental communities, not a general permit-to-build². That absence of a county building code has not been formally confirmed by a document stating "Menard County has no building code" — it is drawn from the county's official site not publishing one, so a call to the County Judge's office is worth making before you break ground on anything unusual¹.

There is no dedicated building or planning department in Menard County; land-use approvals run through the County Judge's office and Commissioners Court⁵. If you are dividing a tract into two or more lots, or setting up a manufactured home rental community, you submit a plat application, supporting documents, and fee to the county, and Commissioners Court must act by recorded vote at a public meeting to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove it⁵. The county must notify you of a missing document or incomplete application within 10 business days of receiving it⁵. Menard County may inspect manufactured-home rental-community infrastructure during construction or after completion to check it against the approved infrastructure plan; that limited inspection authority covers compliance with the county's land-development regulations and does not establish an inspection program for ordinary home construction⁵. A subdivision also needs county approval before a road, driveway, bridge or culvert connects to an existing public road⁵.

Menard County has no zoning ordinance on its official site, and Texas law gives counties zoning power only for specific, narrow situations that do not include Menard County^1,2. On land outside a covered subdivision, the county sets no minimum lot size, minimum dwelling size, lot coverage limit, building height cap, or zoning districts, and it does not restrict tiny-home occupancy or temporary camping². The county's small-lot residential subdivision rules do matter for a detached accessory dwelling: in a subdivision creating two or more residential lots of five acres or less, each lot is limited to one detached single-family dwelling⁵. A manufactured home rental community also needs county approval before construction or occupancy begins⁵. Inside a subdivision, the county's regulations require a 20-foot building and setback line on every side of each lot⁵.

Septic systems, called OSSFs (on-site sewage facilities) in Texas, need a permit before construction, installation, repair, extension, or other alteration in almost every case statewide⁷. TCEQ's own authorized-agent lookup lists Menard County itself as the local agent for OSSF permits countywide except inside the City of Menard, and that program is administered through the County Judge's office^3,4. Once an authorization to construct is issued, the permitting agent inspects the installation against TCEQ criteria⁸. Only 4.3% of Menard County's soils are free of severe limits for a conventional drain field, so budget for a site evaluation by a TCEQ-licensed site evaluator or professional engineer before you count on a standard system⁹. A single-family home on 10 acres or more can qualify for Texas's 10-acre exemption from the OSSF permit, but only if a licensed site evaluator confirms the system won't cause a nuisance or pollute groundwater, every part of it sits at least 100 feet from the property line, effluent stays on the property, and the home is the only dwelling on the tract¹⁰. Work must be done by a licensed installer, or by the homeowner personally on their own single-family residence⁷.

On a standalone tract that is not part of a manufactured home rental community, Menard County sets no zoning rule against living in a tiny home or camping temporarily, because the county has adopted no zoning ordinance². We could not confirm a county rule on long-term RV or manufactured-home occupancy outside a rental community, so ask the County Judge's office before moving one onto your land⁴. That changes if you are renting or leasing two or more spaces or lots to other people for manufactured homes, trailers, campers, or RVs used as dwellings: that arrangement is a manufactured home rental community under county rules, and it needs an approved infrastructure development plan before anyone moves in, plus a rental term under 60 months unless there's a purchase option⁵. Septic still applies regardless of dwelling type — any RV, tiny home, or house that generates domestic sewage needs a permitted OSSF unless it qualifies for Texas's 10-acre exemption for a single-family dwelling on 10 acres or more^7,10.

1. Confirm your tract isn't inside city limits or a platted subdivision with its own rules; unincorporated land outside a subdivision has no county building or zoning process to start¹.
2. If you're dividing the tract first, apply to Commissioners Court for plat approval, budgeting a $3,000 base fee plus $300 per lot and all filing and recording fees due to the County Clerk⁵. A covered residential subdivision lot of five acres or less may have only one detached single-family dwelling, so resolve any guesthouse or detached accessory-dwelling plan before recording the plat⁵. The county adopts the state's plat exceptions, including divisions where every lot is more than 10 acres, but a subdivision under the small-lot Model Rules gets no exception unless those rules allow one; to claim an exception, send a written request to the County Judge's office, whose answer is nonbinding¹¹.
3. Arrange a site evaluation for your septic system with a TCEQ-licensed evaluator or professional engineer, since most of the county's soils have severe limits for a standard drain field⁹.
4. Apply for your OSSF permit before any septic construction begins, through the Menard County Judge's office, the county's listed TCEQ agent^3,4.
5. Before drilling a water well in the Menard County Underground Water District, obtain district approval of the required permit, registration or notice; even a qualifying exempt domestic or livestock well needs review and a certificate before drilling⁶.
6. If your driveway will connect to a state highway, submit TxDOT Form 1058 to the local district office and get a fully executed permit before construction, giving TxDOT 24-hour notice before you start¹².
7. If the property is in a floodplain and inside a subdivision, have a surveyor or engineer certify the finished floor will sit at least 1 foot above base flood elevation⁵.
8. Record any approved plat or MHRC compliance certificate with the Menard County Clerk's Office¹³.

Check soils first: only 4.3% of Menard County is free of severe limits for a conventional septic drain field, so get a site evaluation before you count on gravity-fed septic⁹. The county averages 25.3 inches of rain a year and has experienced severe drought in 26.2% of years, so confirm groundwater plans with the Menard County Underground Water District before relying on a new well^6,9. Land is sparsely populated at 2.2 people per square mile, and the nearest city of 100,000 or more is about 113 miles from the county center⁹. If you're buying into a platted subdivision, confirm the recorded plat, setback and floodplain lines, and legal road access with the County Clerk before closing⁵. The effective property tax rate runs about 1.7%, with a median annual bill near $1,747 on typical Menard County parcels⁹.