# Sidewalk Law by State: All 50 Statutes in One Table

> Who pays for sidewalk repair in every US state, from the statutes themselves. Owner-pays machines, city-duty states, deadline clocks from 3 days to 30, and the two states that never wrote a sidewalk law. Every row links to the verbatim statute.

Updated: 2026-09-29. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/guides/sidewalk-law-by-state/ (claims cited to primary sources; see /methodology/).

We read the sidewalk statute of every US state, verbatim, from official legislature sites wherever one exists. This table is the whole map: what each state's law actually says about who pays for sidewalk repair, with each row linking to our full guide where the statute is quoted and sourced. City ordinances add their own layer on top; those live in [the complete city guide](/guides/complete-city-guide/).

Quick orientation: "Owner pays" states put repair on the abutting owner with a notice-then-we-bill-you machine. "City duty" states write the obligation on the municipality. "Assessment" states fund sidewalks like public projects and split the bill. A surprising number of states wrote nothing at all, leaving everything to local ordinance.

StateThe ruleThe detail that matters

[Alabama](/guides/alabama-arkansas-mississippi-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays"Reasonable notice" set by ordinance, then a lien collected like taxes
[Alaska](/guides/alaska-hawaii-sidewalk-law/)No sidewalk statuteGeneric capital-improvement assessments only; your borough's ordinance decides
[Arizona](/guides/virginia-arizona-colorado-sidewalk-law/)Two-tierCommon-council towns: build on order; charter cities write their own rules
[Arkansas](/guides/alabama-arkansas-mississippi-sidewalk-law/)Owner paysCity contracts on default and adds a 6% penalty to the lien
[California](/guides/sidewalk-law-california/)Owner paysS&H Code 5610: the fronting owner maintains
[Colorado](/guides/virginia-arizona-colorado-sidewalk-law/)AssessmentSidewalks are exempt from the owner-petition veto most improvements need
[Connecticut](/guides/iowa-connecticut-sidewalk-law/)Liability shiftTowns may hand snow/ice injury lawsuits to owners by ordinance
[Delaware](/guides/rhode-island-delaware-sidewalk-law/)Construction onlyFront-footage assessment once, then the state DOT maintains forever
[Florida](/guides/texas-florida-sidewalk-law/)AssessmentSpecial assessments on "specially benefited property"
[Georgia](/guides/georgia-maryland-sidewalk-law/)Nearly silentThe street statutes never say "sidewalk"; city ordinances govern
[Hawaii](/guides/alaska-hawaii-sidewalk-law/)No state statuteCounty codes govern; our Honolulu record documents the big one
[Idaho](/guides/montana-wyoming-idaho-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays"Dangerous and unsafe" orders; 30 days to pay; the statute never says lien
[Illinois](/guides/illinois-pennsylvania-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays30 days from the mailed notice, the most direct statute in the country
[Indiana](/guides/missouri-indiana-sidewalk-law/)Owner paysWorks-board resolution, 30-day window, then someone else's contractor
[Iowa](/guides/iowa-connecticut-sidewalk-law/)City duty, flippableThe city's baseline duty until a certified letter moves it to you
[Kansas](/guides/kansas-nebraska-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays5 days' notice (none at all in third-class cities), 30 days to pay
[Kentucky](/guides/kentucky-tennessee-sidewalk-law/)No statuteSidewalk sections repealed; pure city home rule
[Louisiana](/guides/south-carolina-louisiana-sidewalk-law/)AssessmentTotal cost assessable, even against property outside city limits
[Maine](/guides/maine-new-hampshire-vermont-sidewalk-law/)Town dutyTowns keep ways safe; claims gated on written notice of the defect
[Maryland](/guides/georgia-maryland-sidewalk-law/)Cleaning onlyThe state grant stops at snow, ice, and obstructions
[Massachusetts](/guides/massachusetts-north-carolina-sidewalk-law/)Town duty$5,000 damages cap and a 30-day injury notice
[Michigan](/guides/michigan-sidewalk-law/)City dutyThe municipality ["shall maintain the sidewalk in reasonable repair"](https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-691-1402a)
[Minnesota](/guides/minnesota-oklahoma-sidewalk-law/)City toolboxRepair power and clearing duties ride different statutory clauses
[Mississippi](/guides/alabama-arkansas-mississippi-sidewalk-law/)No owner dutyMunicipal power plus special assessment; nothing personal to you
[Missouri](/guides/missouri-indiana-sidewalk-law/)Owner paysCouncils may order build, rebuild, or repair by ordinance
[Montana](/guides/montana-wyoming-idaho-sidewalk-law/)Owner paysA lien on the lot or a personal lawsuit, the city's choice
[Nebraska](/guides/kansas-nebraska-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays + liabilityOmaha's statute fuses repair duty with injury liability; 5-day notice
[Nevada](/guides/oregon-nevada-utah-sidewalk-law/)Assessment"Sidewalk project" costs split by front-foot, zone, area, or any equitable basis
[New Hampshire](/guides/maine-new-hampshire-vermont-sidewalk-law/)City paysRepairs ["without further assessment to the abutting owner,"](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XX/231/231-113.htm) by statute
[New Jersey](/guides/new-jersey-sidewalk-law/)Split by useCommercial owners liable, residential owners not (case law)
[New Mexico](/guides/new-mexico-west-virginia-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays, sharpest15 days to start; 20 days after a final order, injury liability transfers to you
[New York](/guides/new-york-state-sidewalk-law/)No blanket mandateVillage and town regimes plus written-notice liability shields
[North Carolina](/guides/massachusetts-north-carolina-sidewalk-law/)City dutyA statutory duty to keep sidewalks in proper repair
[North Dakota](/guides/north-dakota-south-dakota-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays, gentlest terms20-year installment plans; two-thirds of owners can compel the city to build
[Ohio](/guides/ohio-wisconsin-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays (permissive)Cities may require owners to keep walks in repair
[Oklahoma](/guides/minnesota-oklahoma-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays, fastestA 3-day emergency clock, then no-bid repair at your expense
[Oregon](/guides/oregon-nevada-utah-sidewalk-law/)DistrictsSidewalk improvement districts; mechanics left to each city's charter
[Pennsylvania](/guides/illinois-pennsylvania-sidewalk-law/)Owner paysBoroughs may require construction and "safe and usable condition"
[Rhode Island](/guides/rhode-island-delaware-sidewalk-law/)50/50 splitOwner and town split new-sidewalk cost exactly in half, via the tax bill
[South Carolina](/guides/south-carolina-louisiana-sidewalk-law/)Owner-protectiveAssessments capped at half the cost and need two-thirds owner consent
[South Dakota](/guides/north-dakota-south-dakota-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays + nuisanceA broken walk is a public nuisance; the owner is liable for injuries
[Tennessee](/guides/kentucky-tennessee-sidewalk-law/)Owner paysAt least two-thirds of cost by frontage; the benefit finding is conclusive
[Texas](/guides/texas-florida-sidewalk-law/)EnablingCities may assess the entire cost; a defective walk is a declarable nuisance
[Utah](/guides/oregon-nevada-utah-sidewalk-law/)Cleaning onlyThe statute stops at litter, snow, ice, and obstructions
[Vermont](/guides/maine-new-hampshire-vermont-sidewalk-law/)Town powerPermissive only; the famous 20-day notice statute covers bridges, not sidewalks
[Virginia](/guides/virginia-arizona-colorado-sidewalk-law/)Permissive"Localities may... repair sidewalks"; never an owner mandate
[Washington](/guides/washington-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays, cappedA 50%-of-land-value cap, and zero when the city caused the damage
[West Virginia](/guides/new-mexico-west-virginia-sidewalk-law/)Owner or occupant paysOne of the few statutes that reaches tenants too
[Wisconsin](/guides/ohio-wisconsin-sidewalk-law/)Owner pays20-day notice, then a special charge on the tax roll
[Wyoming](/guides/montana-wyoming-idaho-sidewalk-law/)Owner-friendly clockA 30-day window to build it yourself before the city's contractor does

## The patterns, in one paragraph each

The deadline league. Where a statute puts a clock on the owner: Oklahoma 3 days (emergency), Kansas and Nebraska 5, New Mexico 15 to start work, Wisconsin 20, Illinois, Indiana, and Wyoming 30. Everyone else runs on "reasonable time" defined by the notice or local ordinance, which means the notice in your hand is the only deadline that exists.

The city-duty club. Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, and New Hampshire write the repair duty on the government, with New Hampshire's ["without further assessment to the abutting owner"](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XX/231/231-113.htm) the bluntest sentence in any of the fifty.

The silent states. Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, Maryland, Utah, Georgia, Alaska, and Hawaii either never wrote an owner duty or never wrote a sidewalk statute at all. In these states, any "state law requires you to fix it" claim is wrong on its face; the authority, if it exists, is a local ordinance you are entitled to see cited.

Every guide linked above quotes its statutes verbatim with source URLs and access dates, per [our methodology](/methodology/). Our full 88-city, 50-state analysis is in [the data study](/guides/state-of-sidewalk-responsibility/).