Tazewell County, IL Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Tazewell County, IL, also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance, set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Key Facts
- Standing ban
- § 91.16, refuse burning prohibited
- Salvage burning
- banned outright, § 91.15
- Emergency ban authority
- County Board Chairperson, § 91.02
- Enforcing officer
- Director of Public Health
- Offense classification
- petty offense
- Applies to
- unincorporated county only
Summary
Unincorporated Tazewell County bans open burning of organic and inorganic refuse outright under County Code § 91.16, and the County Board can impose a broader emergency burning ban by resolution under § 91.01 whenever the Fire Chiefs' Association requests one.
§ 91.16 NO OPEN BURNING. No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit open burning of refuse composed of animal, fruit, or vegetable matter, garbage, offal, or any other nauseous matter of organic or inorganic matter at any time except within a furnace or incinerator, and then not in a manner which permits the escape or discharge of noxious odors.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-7: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. LU-21-12, passed 9-29-2021; and Res. LU-26-09, passed 7-29-2026).
Full Breakdown
Tazewell County regulates open burning on two tracks. 16: no one may "cause, suffer, allow, or permit open burning of refuse composed of animal, fruit, or vegetable matter, garbage, offal, or any other nauseous matter of organic or inorganic matter at any time," except inside a furnace or incinerator that does not discharge noxious odors. 15, separately bars anyone from running a salvage operation by burning at all. 02 lets the Board Chairperson declare a temporary emergency burning ban on the spot at the request of the Fire Chiefs' Association; that emergency ban stays in force until the Chairperson or the full Board rescinds it, which typically happens during extended dry spells or high fire-danger stretches.
17, meaning health department staff, not just the sheriff's office, can issue citations for illegal burning or unlawful salvage fires. Because these sections sit in the Health and Sanitation chapter, they apply countywide to the unincorporated area; residents inside an incorporated city or village within Tazewell County answer to that municipality's own fire or nuisance code instead.
Violations & Fines
Violating the standing no-burn rule in §§ 91.15 through 91.17 is a petty offense under § 91.99(C). Anyone who defies a temporary emergency burning ban declared under § 91.01 or § 91.02 can also be charged with a petty offense and fined under § 91.99(B); offenses without a specific penalty fall back to the general Chapter 10 fine schedule in § 10.99.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is open burning legal in unincorporated Tazewell County?
Who enforces the burning ban in Tazewell County?
Can the county declare a temporary burn ban during a drought?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tazewell County
How Tazewell County compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·Compare Tazewell County to another location·View the Illinois fire regulations overview
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