Marion, OH Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Chapter 943 of the Marion Codified Ordinances governs domestic refuse and rubbish collection in the City of Marion, Ohio, in Marion County. Section 943.08(B) is the core dumping rule: no person shall throw or deposit domestic refuse, rubbish or waste material, or cause it to be thrown or deposited, in any street, way, lane, river, stream, ditch or other public place, or upon any vacant lot, or where rats, mice, dogs, cats, birds, fowl or other living things can feed thereon. Subsection (A) separately forbids keeping or placing domestic refuse on any grounds or premises except in the manner designated in § 943.06, and subsection (C) forbids anyone other than the collector from removing domestic refuse from a resident's or commercial establishment's premises. Section 943.10 adds that no person shall dispose of, bury or dump within the municipality any domestic refuse, rubbish or waste material, and that all of it must go to the areas' designated solid waste handling and disposal facilities under rules adopted by the Safety/Service Director.

Section 943.08 has a companion in § 660.03, the littering section of the General Offenses Code. It bars placing demolition waste, tree limbs or scrapped metal and similar material on any lot without written permission of the City Safety/Service Director or a designated representative, and it bars throwing or depositing litter on public property or private property the person does not own, regardless of intent. When a deposit exists on a person's own premises, the Safety/Service Director posts a written notice at the site giving 72 hours to remove it. If the deposit is still there within the 14 days following notice, the city removes it and certifies the cost, with administrative costs, to the County Auditor for placement on the tax duplicate as a special assessment against the premises. Under § 660.03(G), any law enforcement officer, the Health Department or the City Zoning Inspector can enforce that section.