Ascension Parish, LA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered areas
- Roads, canals, drainage areas, rights-of-way, servitudes
- Penalty
- Up to 30 days jail or $500 fine, or both
- Continuing violation
- Each day is a separate offense
- Abandoned vehicles
- Removable after 72 hours (Sec. 20-2)
- Geographic scope
- Unincorporated parish areas only (Sec. 1-12)
Summary
Dumping trash, garbage, or junk on parish roads, canals, drainage areas, rights-of-way, or servitudes is unlawful under Code § 20-1. With no specific penalty written into that section, the general penalty clause, Code § 1-8, controls: up to thirty days in the parish jail, a $500.00 fine, or both, and each day the violation continues is a separate offense.
Whenever in this Code, or in any ordinance or resolution of the parish, any act or omission is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or a misdemeanor ... and no specific penalty is provided therefor, and state law does not provide otherwise, or for a greater penalty, the violation of any such provision of this Code or any ordinance shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to thirty (30) days in the parish jail or a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) or both. ... It shall be unlawful for any person to dump, deposit, store, discard, or otherwise dispose of any trash, garbage, junk or other material on any public property, including but not limited to parish roads, canals, drainage areas, rights-of-way, servitudes or other areas under public administration and control.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 20's illegal-dumping provision is short: Section 20-1, adopted July 20, 1972, makes it 'unlawful for any person to dump, deposit, store, discard, or otherwise dispose of any trash, garbage, junk or other material' on parish roads, canals, drainage areas, rights-of-way, servitudes, or any other area under public administration and control. 00, or both. Chapter 20 also reaches abandoned vehicles left on the same public property under Section 20-2: a vehicle abandoned more than seventy-two hours can be towed and stored at the owner's expense, and one left unclaimed more than ten days after that can be auctioned to cover removal and storage.
Chapter 11's junk and abandoned vehicle article, Article VI, separately targets accumulations of inoperative vehicles and 'white goods' left on private property, which the parish council has declared a public nuisance abatable under that article, but Section 20-1's reach is limited to material dumped on land the parish or another public body controls, not a resident's own yard.
Violations & Fines
A conviction under Section 20-1 is a misdemeanor: up to thirty days in the parish jail, a fine of up to $500.00, or both, under the Code's general penalty section, 1-8. Because the ordinance treats continuing violations as a fresh offense 'each day,' junk left on parish property can generate a separate charge for every day it remains uncleared. The Code applies this penalty only in the unincorporated areas of the parish under Section 1-12; Gonzales, Donaldsonville, and Sorrento enforce their own dumping ordinances within their limits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dumping trash on a parish road illegal in Ascension Parish?
What's the penalty for illegal dumping?
Does this cover dumping on someone else's private land?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ascension Parish
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