Augusta-Richmond County, GA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing clause
- Sec. 3-7-36
- Named monuments
- Confederate Monument, Signers Monument, Cenotaph, Powder Works Chimney
- Also covers
- Any other public monument or memorial
- Enclosure protection
- Defacing or unauthorized entry banned
- Max penalty
- $1,000 fine and/or 60 days jail, Sec. 1-6-1
Summary
Augusta-Richmond County makes it a crime to deface, injure or trespass on its named public monuments. Code Sec. 3-7-36 protects the Confederate Monument on Broad Street, the signers-of-the-Declaration monument on Greene Street, the Confederate Cenotaph, the Powder Works Chimney, and any other public monument or memorial in the county, plus the enclosures around them.
Any person who shall deface, injure or commit any trespass upon the Confederate Monument on Broad Street between McIntosh and Jackson Streets, or the monument to the signers of the Declaration of Independence on Greene Street in front of the Municipal Building, or the Confederate Cenotaph on Greene Street, between Elbert and Center Streets, or the Powder Works Chimney on the canal, or any other public monument, cenotaph or memorial structure now or hereafter erected in Augusta-Richmond County, or who shall deface, injure, or commit any trespass upon the enclosure thereof, or shall enter within such enclosure, without permission shall be punished as provided herein.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Recodification).
Full Breakdown
' The prohibited conduct covers three acts: defacing the monument, injuring it, or committing trespass upon it, and the section separately reaches the enclosure around a monument, banning defacement or injury to the enclosure itself and entry within it without permission. Because the section sits inside Chapter 7's general offenses provisions rather than under its own numbered penalty clause, a violation is punished 'as provided herein,' which Sec. 3-7-3 and the Code's general penalty in Sec. 1-6-1 fix at a misdemeanor: a fine not exceeding $1,000 and/or imprisonment not exceeding 60 days, at the trial court's discretion, with each continuing day of a violation, such as an unrepaired act of vandalism, capable of being charged as a separate offense under Sec. 1-6-1's continuing-violation clause.
Violations & Fines
Defacing, injuring or trespassing on a protected monument or its enclosure is a misdemeanor. Because Sec. 3-7-36 has no standalone penalty clause of its own, the county applies the general penalty in Sec. 1-6-1: a fine up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment up to 60 days, with the judge deciding the amount, and each day a violation continues can be treated as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which monuments does Augusta-Richmond County's ordinance protect?
Is it illegal to enter the fenced area around a monument?
What's the penalty for defacing a public monument?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Augusta-Richmond County
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