Fayette County, GA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 16 (Secs. 16-133 through 16-139) is the county's litter law, adopted to 'protect the public health, safety, environment, and general welfare through the regulation and prevention of litter,' and it applies to 'all public and private property within the county' (Sec. 16-134). Section 16-137 makes it unlawful for anyone to 'bury, dump, deposit, throw or leave' litter, defined broadly in Sec. 16-136 to include waste material, rubbish, refuse, garbage, trash, debris, and even dead animals, on any public or private property or waters in the county, unless the property is state-designated for disposal and the person is authorized to use it, the litter goes into an installed receptacle, or the property owner holds a state EPD disposal permit.

Section 16-138 separately bans hauling an unsecured load that drops or shifts material onto the roadway. Enforcement leans on evidentiary presumptions in Sec. 16-139(b): litter thrown from a vehicle, boat, airplane or machine is prima facie evidence the operator violated the article, and litter that is discovered to contain identifying material, like mail bearing a name, creates a rebuttable presumption against that person. Penalties under Sec. 00 per violation, plus reimbursement of the county's reasonable cost of removing the litter, and a court can additionally order the violator to pick up litter along up to a mile of roadway or from other affected property, and may publish the names of those convicted. All state and county law enforcement agencies are authorized to enforce the article.