Dubuque, IA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 10-1-7 splits illegal dumping into three separate offenses. Subsection A bars throwing or depositing paper, cards or advertisements into any street, alley or other public place anywhere within the city limits. Subsection B targets sharper hazards: bottles, glass, nails, tacks, wire, cans or any other substance likely to injure a person, animal or vehicle can't be thrown or deposited on a street, alley or public place. Subsection C covers 'destructive or injurious material' more broadly and adds an affirmative duty: anyone who drops it, or permits it to be dropped or thrown, on a street, alley or public place must immediately remove it themselves.

None of these three subsections sets its own dollar fine, so a violation is prosecuted as a municipal infraction under Dubuque City Code § 1-4-2, the city's general civil-penalty chapter for any act the code declares unlawful. That chapter's schedule caps a first offense at $750 and caps 'all other repeated offenses' at $1,000, and each day the material stays where it was dumped counts as a separate offense, so leaving debris in a public place can compound quickly. Municipal infraction cases also carry an assessment of court costs, and dismissal of a case doesn't automatically wipe out those costs if the parties and the court agree they should still be assessed.