Champaign County, IL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 3.2.A of the county's Public Nuisance Ordinance, covering unincorporated Champaign County only, declares it a public nuisance to deposit, accumulate, maintain or dispose of GARBAGE or DEBRIS anywhere other than a properly permitted or licensed facility, whether the material sits on public or private property or in a public right-of-way (Section 3.1.A). The ordinance defines DEBRIS broadly to include junk, litter, construction or demolition waste, ashes or cinders, and goods damaged so as to have little or no value, and GARBAGE to include trash, refuse, offal, putrescible waste and animal carcasses.

Moving dumped material to another unincorporated location after a notice of violation does not cure the violation; Section 4.4.B treats that relocation as a continuation of the original cited nuisance. If the owner of record fails to abate a garbage or debris nuisance within the period set in the notice of violation, Section 4.4.D lets the County itself remove the material under the Illinois Counties Code, 55 ILCS 5/5-1118, and recover the reasonable cost of removal from the owner as a lien on the property.

Enforcement runs through the Zoning Administrator or Sheriff, who investigate complaints and issue notices of violation (Section 4.1); a notice must give at least 15 days to abate unless the dumping is ongoing or poses imminent peril, in which case immediate abatement can be ordered (Section 4.3.D). An accused party may settle by paying the $100 minimum fine set in Section 6.3, but if the case is not settled or the dumping continues, the State's Attorney can prosecute in circuit court for a fine of $100 to $500 per offense on a first conviction and $200 to $500 on any subsequent one (Section 6.4), with each day the dumped material remains counted as a separate offense (Section 6.1.B).