Putnam County, FL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Sec. 34-4 of the Putnam County Code prohibits two overlapping things in unincorporated Putnam County. First, no one may cast, place, sweep, or deposit solid waste anywhere in the county in a way that lets it be carried or deposited by wind, rain, or other elements onto a sidewalk, alley, street, or other public place, though the section does not stop placement of clean fill on private land. Second, no one may throw, place, or deposit solid waste of any kind onto public streets, roads, highways, bridges, alleys, canals, or vacant lots, or onto another person's property, except as the Board of County Commissioners specifically authorizes; hauling solid waste for hire without a county permit or contract is unlawful under the same section, and all required disposal must go to a county-designated or county-approved facility.

Chapter 34 carries no penalty clause of its own, so illegal dumping is punished under Sec. 1-6, the code's general penalty section: a conviction brings a fine of up to $500.00, up to 60 days in the county jail, or both, and each day a continuing violation persists counts as a separate offense. The general penalty section also allows the county to seek injunctive or other equitable relief for continuing violations, and imposing a fine does not block separate revocation or suspension of any related license, permit, or franchise.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office and county code enforcement, through the Special Magistrate process under Chapter 2, are the agencies that act on dumping complaints in the unincorporated area.