Dougherty County, GA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Dougherty County Code Sections 2-8-2 through 2-8-6 govern junk and abandoned vehicles in unincorporated Dougherty County. A junk vehicle is any motor vehicle that is either in a state of disrepair or unmovable under its own power. Section 2-8-3 makes it unlawful to park, wreck, dismantle, render inoperable, abandon, or discard such a vehicle on public property or on any private lot, occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, and declares its mere presence a public nuisance. Three narrow exceptions apply under Section 2-8-4: a vehicle inside an enclosed building, a vehicle on the premises of a lawfully operated business where it is necessary to the operation, or a vehicle on property used for repair, reconditioning, or remodeling in conformance with the county's zoning ordinances.

Enforcement runs through the Dougherty County Police Department: once an officer deems a vehicle a public nuisance, the department issues a warning notice to the owner or the person in apparent possession, per Section 2-8-5. If the vehicle is not removed within ten days, the vehicle owner or the landowner can be tried for an offense, and if convicted, punished under the general penalty in Section 2-1-8, fine up to $1,000, imprisonment up to 60 days, or both, with each day a separate offense, and the cost of removal is added as a court cost. A. Title 40, Chapter 11, as cumulative and supplemental authority for removal.