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

Article III of Chapter 15 of the Gordon County Code, titled Litter Control, is the county's dumping ordinance. Section 15-61 defines the county as the unincorporated areas of Gordon County, Georgia. Litter covers sand, gravel, slag, brickbats, rubbish, waste material, tin cans, refuse, garbage, trash, debris, dead animals, or discarded materials of every kind and description. Public or private property covers road and highway rights-of-way, any body of water or watercourse and its shores, parks, playgrounds, buildings, refuge, conservation and recreation areas, and residential or farm properties, timberlands or forests.

Section 15-62(a) makes it unlawful to dump, deposit, throw or leave litter, or to cause or permit that act, on any public or private property or waters in the county. Three exceptions apply: property designated by the county or by a city or town in the county for litter disposal where the person is authorized to use it, litter placed in a receptacle or container installed on the property, and an owner or tenant in lawful possession, or a person with that owner's or tenant's prior consent, acting in a manner consistent with the public welfare.

Section 15-62(b) makes a violation a misdemeanor. The punishment list starts with a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). It then directs the court to order the person to pick up litter along a public street, highway or right-of-way for not less than one mile nor more than five miles, including litter left by anyone else before the date of sentence, or to clean any public beach, public park or private right-of-way, or private property with the owner's permission, where the person deposited litter. Subsection (c) lets the court publish the names of convicted persons.

Proof rules help prosecutors. Under § 15-63(a), litter thrown from a motor vehicle, boat, airplane or other conveyance is prima facie evidence that the operator violated the article. Under § 15-63(b), an item bearing a person's name, such as a letter, bill or publication, creates a rebuttable presumption that the named person is responsible. Section 15-64 directs all law enforcement agencies, officers and officials of the county to enforce the article.