York County, SC Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Conduct banned
- Loitering, trespassing, scavenging at waste sites
- Lawful presence
- Only for business during normal operating hours
- Enforcement
- County manager staff and all law enforcement
- Penalty basis
- S.C. Code § 16-11-700, misdemeanor or felony
Summary
It's unlawful to loiter or trespass at any York County landfill, convenience center, roadside container or solid waste facility except to conduct business during normal operating hours. The same section separately bans scavenging, sorting or disturbing waste that has already been dropped off, and violations are prosecuted as a misdemeanor or felony under state law.
It shall be unlawful for any person to loiter about or trespass upon any county municipal solid waste landfill, convenience center, roadside container or solid waste facility or come thereon except for the transaction of business during normal operating hours. No person shall remove, scatter, probe through, scavenge, interfere with or disturb waste, garbage or refuse or other matter, objects or materials deposited in or collected at any county municipal solid waste landfill, convenience center, roadside container or solid waste facility.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-49: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. 3925, passed 6-16-25).
Full Breakdown
08(B), makes it unlawful to 'interfere with the operation of or loiter about' these same facilities or to 'remove, scatter, probe, scavenge, disturb, sift or sort through the contents thereof,' though it carves out an exception for 'authorized county personnel' carrying out the county's own recycling and disposal programs. 05 assigns enforcement primarily to the county manager's designated employees, but it also empowers 'all lawfully constituted law enforcement officers in the county' to enforce Chapter 50, so a sheriff's deputy patrolling a rural roadside container can act on a loitering or scavenging complaint without waiting for a county code officer.
Violations & Fines
Both loitering and scavenging under §§ 50.08 and 50.10 carry the penalty set by § 50.99: a violation of Chapter 50 'shall be guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony, according to the nature of the offense,' with fines or imprisonment set by S.C. Code § 16-11-700, which the county formally adopts by reference 'mutatis mutandis.'
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I hang around a York County convenience center after it closes?
Is it illegal to go through what someone else dumped at a roadside container?
Who enforces the loitering rules at York County's landfill?
What happens if I'm convicted of loitering at a county solid waste facility?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in York County
Compare York County to another location·View the South Carolina public conduct overview
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