Garland County, AR Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 54-39 makes it unlawful for any person to "purposely dump, place, cause to be placed, or knowingly authorize the placement of any solid waste in the unincorporated areas of the county" except through the collection system this chapter sets up or under the solid waste director's rules and regulations. Section 54-40 backs enforcement with a presumption: if solid waste found dumped can be identified as belonging to a particular person, it is presumed that person placed it, or caused or authorized its placement, wherever it was found, easing the burden of proving who is responsible for a given pile of trash.

Penalties come from section 54-32, the article's general penalty clause: any violation is a misdemeanor punished under the county's general penalty section, section 1-14, which caps fines at $500.00 for a first offense and $1,000.00 for each repeat offense, with continuing violations fined up to $250.00 for each day they persist. Beyond the fine, section 54-32 lets the sentencing body require the violator to remove and clean up the dumped waste, or, as an alternative or additional penalty, assist in cleaning up general county litter, unpaid, for up to eight hours a day and no more than five days on such a cleanup project.

The county also separately backs the state's litter law: section 54-1 has the quorum court pledge support for the Arkansas Litter Control Act (A.C.A. § 8-6-401 et seq.) and authorizes the county judge to post signage along public highways informing residents of the Act and its penalties.