Rock Island County, IL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 52.02, County Code
- Maximum fine
- $500 per day of violation
- Offense class
- Petty offense
- Enforcing agency
- County Dept. of Public Health
- Applies to
- Unincorporated county only
- Exceptions
- IEPA sites, containers, cleanups, emergencies
Summary
Rock Island County bans dumping refuse on any public or private property, or into any river, lake, pond, or stream, in the unincorporated county unless the site is an IEPA-designated disposal facility, a lawful refuse container, a supervised cleanup, or an active emergency. Violators face fines up to $500 per day under § 52.99.
No person shall dump, deposit, drop, throw, discard, leave, cause, or permit the dumping, depositing, dropping, throwing, discarding, or leaving of refuse upon any public or private property in the county, or upon or into any river, lake, pond, or other stream or body of water in the county, unless: (1) The property has been designated waste disposal site by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; (2) The refuse is placed into a receptacle or other container, as prescribed in § 52.05 intended by the owner or tenant in lawful possession of that property for the depositing of refuse; (3) The person is acting under the direction of proper public officials during special cleanup days; or (4) The person is lawfully acting in or reacting to an emergency situation where health and safety is threatened, and removes and properly disposes of such refuse when the emergency situation no longer exists.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-1: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. 2024-12-A, passed 12-17-2024; and State legislation current through 2024 Illinois Legislative Service, Pamphlet #6).
Full Breakdown
02 of the county code makes it unlawful to dump, deposit, drop, throw, discard, or leave refuse on public or private land in the unincorporated county, or into any river, lake, pond, or other body of water, unless one of four narrow conditions applies. 05 with the consent of the owner or tenant, the dumping must occur under the direction of county officials during an organized special cleanup day, or the dumping must be a lawful emergency response that is cleaned up once the emergency passes.
02(B) separately bars anyone from hauling refuse from a home, business, or farm and depositing it in, around, or on top of another property's refuse containers, closing off the common workaround of using a neighbor's or business's cans. 01, administers and enforces the subchapter. 01 to include garbage, construction debris, abandoned vehicles and vehicle parts, dead animal carcasses, and any other unsightly or unsanitary discarded material, so the ban reaches far beyond household trash. Because Rock Island County government only regulates the unincorporated area, this prohibition does not extend inside the city limits of Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Milan, or the county's other incorporated towns, which enforce their own dumping ordinances.
Violations & Fines
Illegal dumping under §§ 52.01 through 52.07 is a petty offense punishable by a fine of not more than $500 under § 52.99(B), and each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, so an uncleared dump site can accumulate daily fines. Cases not covered by a specific penalty default to the general county penalty in § 10.99.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I dump yard debris on my own vacant land in the county?
Is there a legal way to dispose of bulky junk during a cleanup event?
What happens if I dump trash in someone else's dumpster?
How much can the county fine me for illegal dumping?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Rock Island County
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