Portsmouth, VA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

City Code Sec. 16-5(a) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to dump or otherwise dispose of trash, garbage, refuse, debris or other unsightly matter on any public property, including a public highway or right-of-way and adjacent property, or on private property without the written consent of the owner or agent. Conviction carries a fine of not less than $250.00 or more than $2,500.00 and confinement in jail for not more than 12 months, either or both; the court may instead order community service in litter abatement activities, and under subsection (d) may suspend a sentence on condition the defendant volunteer to remove trash, garbage, refuse or debris from public or private property as the court designates.

Sec. 16-5(b) lets the arresting officer invoke Code of Virginia § 46.2-936 when the dumped matter was ejected from a motor vehicle, and subsection (c) creates a rebuttable presumption that the vehicle's owner or operator is the person responsible when dumping is observed from a moving vehicle. Sec. 16-5(e) designates police officers and fire marshals to enforce both Sec. 16-3 and Sec. 16-5. Separately, Sec. 16-3 makes it unlawful to dump refuse anywhere in the city except a licensed private landfill or the Southeastern Public Service Authority's designated disposal site, and unlawful to bring refuse generated outside the city in for disposal anywhere but that SPSA site; a violation of Sec. 16-3 outside the Sec. 16-5 penalty structure is treated as a class 3 misdemeanor under the general Sec. 16-2(a) chapter penalty.