Wichita County permit authority

Wichita County Office of Emergency Management (Floodplain Administration) and Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division is the identified county-level authority for this profile. Confirm that the property is in its service area before filing.

No verified online portal was located in the reviewed public materials. Contact Wichita County floodplain administration/emergency management: 940-763-0820; Wichita Falls-Wichita County Environmental Health/OSSF: 940-761-7820 and request the current application route before preparing a final submittal.

Wichita County publishes no fixed floodplain review target; an issued floodplain permit expires if work has not commenced within six months. Under 30 TAC Chapter 285, complete OSSF applications and planning materials must be approved or denied within 30 days. The Health District's current fee schedule covers up to two site visits but does not state a fixed inspection lead time.

For floodplain work, submit the county form and plans to the Floodplain Administrator at 940-763-0820 before starting. The owner consents to reasonable inspections; required as-built elevation or floodproofing certification must be prepared by a Texas professional engineer or registered surveyor, and the site may not be occupied or used until the county issues a Certificate of Compliance. For an OSSF, submit the application and supporting site-evaluation/design documents to OSSF@wichitafallstx.gov, pay the fee, and receive Authorization to Construct before installation. Environmental Health performs the final inspection and issues the operating permit only after the system passes; current fees include up to two site visits, with an additional-visit fee. Schedule or confirm at 940-761-7820.

Wichita County's unincorporated permitting authority is principally floodplain development, not a published countywide structural-building program. The county administers Flood Damage Prevention Court Order 21.0802.601, adopted August 2, 2021, and FEMA/NFIP floodplain requirements; its 2024 hazard plan confirms county permitting, inspection, enforcement, and substantial-improvement/damage review using the 50-percent market-value threshold, except that the City of Iowa Park administers its own extraterritorial jurisdiction. The Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District regulates OSSFs under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 366 and 30 TAC Chapter 285. Current Wichita County subdivision regulations are dated January 2025. General structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical codes are administered by the applicable municipality rather than published as countywide codes. The county floodplain form states that no floodplain-development permit is required when the local administrator determines the site is outside a Special Flood Hazard Area; otherwise the permit covers buildings and additions as well as clearing, fill, grading, excavation, roads, utilities, subdivision work, and other development. Wichita County publishes no general structural permit requirement or cosmetic-work exemption for ordinary construction outside regulated floodplain areas, but municipal, subdivision, right-of-way, septic, and other approvals may still apply. The current Health District OSSF page does not publish a blanket acreage exemption, so an owner claiming a state-law exception should obtain a site-specific determination before construction.