Montgomery, AL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Dumping outside a sanitary landfill
- unlawful (§25-142)
- Depositing refuse on streets/others' property
- unlawful (§25-143)
- First offense
- $250.00 min. fine or 10 hrs service
- Repeat offense (12 months)
- $500.00 min. fine or 20 hrs
- Passive accumulation
- blowing/washing onto public property counts
- Separate indiscriminate-dumping fine
- $100.00 minimum (§25-189)
Summary
Dumping garbage anywhere but a sanitary landfill, or depositing refuse on streets, sidewalks or someone else's property, is unlawful under Secs. 25-142 and 25-143. A first conviction under Sec. 25-145 carries a minimum $250.00 fine or ten hours of community service, doubling to $500.00 or 20 hours for repeat violations within a year.
Sec. 25-142. It shall be unlawful for any person to dump or cause to be dumped any garbage upon any property other than a sanitary landfill as defined in section 25-31. Sec. 25-143. It shall be unlawful for any person to sweep, throw or otherwise deposit or cause to be swept, thrown or otherwise deposited any garbage, rubbish or other refuse into or on any public street, alley, sidewalk, park or the property of another person or property which is in the possession of another person within the city, or to permit any garbage, rubbish or other refuse to accumulate in such manner that it may be carried and deposited into or on any of such places by action of the rain, wind or snow.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 27).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 25-142 makes it unlawful to dump or cause garbage to be dumped anywhere other than a sanitary landfill, defined in Sec. 25-31 as a city-operated dumping site or a site designated by the county health officer. Sec. 25-143 broadens the prohibition to cover sweeping, throwing or otherwise depositing garbage, rubbish or other refuse onto any public street, alley, sidewalk, park or another person's property, and it also reaches passive violations: letting garbage or refuse pile up in a way that lets rain, wind or snow carry it onto those same places counts as a violation even without an active dumping act.
A related section, Sec. 25-144, extends the same ban to canals, streams, public water drains, sewers and receiving basins. Sec. 00 fine or 20 hours of community service. The section's cross-reference to the city's general fine provision in Sec. 1-6 means a municipal court can add further penalties on top of the Sec. 25-145 minimums. These littering rules sit alongside Sec. 00 minimum fine.
Violations & Fines
A first illegal-dumping conviction under Sec. 25-145 carries a minimum $250.00 fine or ten hours of community service; a second or later violation within 12 months rises to a minimum $500.00 fine or 20 hours of community service. Sec. 25-189's separate indiscriminate-dumping ban carries its own minimum $100.00 fine, and any violation can also draw the additional penalties allowed under Sec. 1-6 of the city code.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Can I be cited if trash blows off my property onto the street?
Does the dumping ban cover storm drains and creeks?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Montgomery
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