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. 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. 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.