Clay County, MO Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Scope
- Clay County parks and recreation land only
- On-site trash
- Must use provided receptacles
- Outside dumping
- Written parks-director consent required
- Dead animal dumping
- Separately banned, § 90.21(E)
- Max penalty
- $1,000 fine / 1 year jail
Summary
Clay County bans dumping trash of any kind in its park and recreation system under Code of Ordinances § 90.21. Section (B) requires garbage generated on-site to go in provided receptacles, and section (C) makes it unlawful to bring outside household or commercial garbage, debris, or yard waste into a park to dump it without the written consent of the parks director.
(B)Dispose of any garbage, litter, refuse, rubbish, trash, or any other waste materials or waste liquids generated in a public park or recreation area in anything other than receptacles provided for such purposes.(C)Bring any household or commercial garbage, litter, debris, refuse, rubbish, trash, or yard waste of any kind, for disposal or dumping within the parks or recreation areas without the written consent of the park director.
Full Breakdown
21, treats on-site litter and outside dumping as two separate offenses. Subsection (B) requires anyone generating garbage, litter, refuse, rubbish, trash, or waste liquid inside a park or recreation area to use the receptacles the county provides rather than leaving it on the ground. Subsection (C) goes further and bars bringing in household or commercial garbage, litter, debris, refuse, rubbish, trash, or yard waste from off-site for disposal or dumping anywhere in the park system unless the parks director gives written consent first. Subsection (D) adds a companion duty: anyone occupying a picnic, camp, or shelter site must keep the area free of trash during their stay and haul out all personal property and equipment afterward, leaving the site as it was found.
21(E), separately makes it a crime to dump a dead animal's carcass into any well, spring, creek, or pond, or onto any park road, boat ramp, parking lot, or trash receptacle within the park system. All five subsections trace to Ord. GO-84-42 from April 7, 1984, and were last amended by Ord. No. 2024-ORD-21 on August 15, 2024. This dumping ban applies only within land owned or managed by the Clay County department of parks, recreation, and historic sites; the county's Municode export contains no general countywide illegal-dumping ordinance covering private or roadside property in the unincorporated area outside the park system.
Violations & Fines
Dumping in violation of § 90.21 is enforced under the chapter's general penalty at § 90.99: a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in the county jail, or both, and every day the debris remains constitutes a separate offense. Park rangers and Clay County law enforcement can order a violator to remove the material and evict them from the park, and the county prosecuting attorney handles court filings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I bring my own trash to dump at a Clay County park?
Does Clay County have a countywide illegal dumping law?
What's the penalty for illegal dumping in a Clay County park?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clay County
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