Killeen, TX Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 18-24 of the Code of Ordinances prohibits throwing, depositing, dropping, sweeping or placing litter or junk into or on private or public property, a right-of-way, street or sidewalk anywhere in the city; all litter must go into an approved receptacle. Unlike the weeds, brush and unsanitary-condition violations covered elsewhere in Chapter 18, dumping does not get a seven-day cure period first: Section 18-47 directs the code enforcement director or a police officer to issue an immediate citation or summons to anyone observed littering or dumping in violation of Section 18-24. The related Section 18-23 separately makes it unlawful to allow litter, trash or rubbish to accumulate on a lot, parcel or premise, treating that accumulation as a public nuisance and a health and fire hazard in its own right.

Both offenses are punished under Section 18-46's citation schedule, which applies across Chapter 18's specific nuisances. A peace officer may act on personal observation of the violation, and because Section 18-47 requires immediate action rather than a warning, a first dumping offense can result in a citation the same day it is discovered. The ordinance's state-law basis is Section 342.005 of the Health and Safety Code, which lets a municipality's governing body punish an owner or occupant who violates a sanitation ordinance adopted under that chapter.