Lake County, IN Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum frequency
- At least twice weekly
- Applies to
- Licensed manufactured/mobile home parks only
- Backup duty
- Park operator serves if no hauler
- Enforcing officer
- Lake County Health Officer
- Penalty
- $10-$300 fine, each day separate
- Adopted
- Ord. 1626, passed June 13, 1995
Summary
Unincorporated Lake County requires every licensed manufactured home park to have garbage and rubbish collected at least twice weekly, per County Code § 152.035(D)(7)(b). Disposal must satisfy the County Health Officer and create no nuisance or health menace. Where no municipal or private hauler serves the park, the operator itself must provide twice-weekly collection or face misdemeanor fines.
(a) Garbage and rubbish shall be disposed of in a manner approved by the County Health Officer and in a manner designed not to create a nuisance or a menace to health. (b) All refuse and garbage shall be collected at least twice weekly. Where suitable collection service is not available from municipal or private agencies, the manufactured home park operator shall provide this service.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-14: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through 6-9-2026; and State legislation current through Indiana Legislative Service, 2025 Acts, Pamphlet No. 3).
Full Breakdown
Lake County Code Chapter 152, "Mobile Homes; Mobile Home Parks," governs manufactured and mobile home park development in the unincorporated county, since Gary, Hammond, Crown Point and the county's other cities and towns write their own codes. " That twice-weekly floor sits alongside the park's other utility mandates in the same subsection, including a common water supply approved by the Indiana State Board of Health and central or public sewer service, underscoring that these are basic operating conditions of park licensure rather than optional guidance.
The rule traces to Ord. 030. Enforcement runs through the County Health Officer, who approves the disposal method, and through the Lake County Plan Commission, which administers park licensing under the same chapter. A park that misses the twice-weekly minimum or lets a hauler lapse without stepping in itself is out of compliance the moment service falls short, exposing the operator, not individual tenants, to citation under the chapter's general penalty section.
Violations & Fines
Violating any provision of Chapter 152, including the twice-weekly collection mandate, is a misdemeanor under § 152.999: a fine of not less than $10 and not more than $300 for each offense, payable to the county. Each day a park operator lets collection lapse counts as a separate offense, so an uncorrected shortfall compounds quickly. The County Health Officer refers violations for prosecution, and the Plan Commission's park license is separately at risk if service failures continue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does unincorporated Lake County set a trash day for my house?
What if my mobile home park's collection is unreliable?
Who can fine a mobile home park for garbage violations?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lake County
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