Franklin County, KY Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Franklin County Code § 50.08 lists the prohibited practices for solid waste in unincorporated Franklin County, Kentucky. Subsection (B)(1) bars disposing of any garbage, refuse, rubbish or debris by dumping on any premises in the county with or without consent of the owner. Subsection (B)(2) bars dumping, or permitting the dumping of, garbage, refuse, rubbish and debris on any property within the county limits, except where permitted by the county and state. The same list also prohibits disposing of solid waste in a facility not approved by the county, depositing waste in a container owned by someone else without the owner's written permission, and interfering with legally operating collection equipment.

Section 50.08(B)(8) carries the only exception. A person is excused if the waste is proven to have been in the possession of another person before it was dumped, and it must then be verified that the person had no knowledge of the waste being illegally dumped.

Section 50.06(C) adds a personal responsibility rule: it is unlawful to dispose, throw, dump or cause to be disposed any garbage, paper, refuse, rubbish, waste, litter, junk, white goods, appliances, furniture, equipment, cans, bottles, lumber, building material, trees, tree limbs, brush or other forms of solid waste anywhere other than as the subchapter defines. Legal disposal is set by § 50.07, which routes bulk waste, white goods, tires, electronics and household hazardous waste to specific channels.

The penalty provision, § 50.99(B)(1), covers §§ 50.01 through 50.08. Enforcement by the county can be carried out by any peace officer of the county, the code inspectors, the Solid Waste Management Coordinator, law enforcement or solid waste management personnel. Section 50.99(B)(2) lets investigators use ownership: if dumped items can be identified as having last belonged to, been in the possession of, or been sent to a person or organization, that identification is prima facie evidence that the person or organization disposed of them in violation of the chapter. Those persons can also face §§ 91.01 through 91.06 and 91.99(B) of the county code.