Abilene, TX Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Chapter 19 of Abilene's Code of Ordinances is titled 'Nuisances and Illegal Dumping,' and its stated purpose under § 19-1 is to protect public health, safety, environment, and general welfare through regulation of nuisances and illegal dumping. A. ' That wording mirrors how the same chapter handles junked vehicles: § 19-2 separately adopts Transportation Code Chapter 683 wholesale as Abilene's junked-vehicle ordinance. Because the dumping ordinance is the state Act itself, enforcement in Abilene draws on the definitions and penalty tiers written into Chapter 365 rather than a locally set fine schedule; Chapter 19's own default penalty clause, § 19-32, expressly carves illegal dumping under § 19-45 out of its general Class C misdemeanor and dollar-amount structure, leaving the state Act's own criminal classifications to control instead.

Enforcement on the ground is carried out by the Administrator as defined in § 19-3, a term that covers City of Abilene Peace Officers, Firefighters, Code Enforcement Officers, Environmental Enforcement Officers, and the Public Health Authority or City Manager or their designees. Because illegal dumping is also folded into Chapter 19's general nuisance findings, a dump site can additionally be pursued as a nuisance under the chapter's notice-and-abatement procedure in Article III, which requires ten days' written notice to the property owner or the person responsible before the City abates the condition and bills the cost, unless the site presents an immediate danger to health and safety that lets the Administrator act without waiting for notice first.