San Jacinto, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 8.52.020 covers refuse placed on any lot, land or public place, and anything placed in a water or waterway, along with any deleterious or offensive substance or any substance condemned by the city's sanitarian. The only carve-out is land the city itself uses for a disposal or reclamation site. Section 8.52.010 defines refuse as garbage plus rubbish, and it expressly leaves out construction materials, broken concrete, dirt from grading, and rocks over two-inch diameter. The City Council's stated reason is that people who drive into local neighborhoods to dump bring decay there, and the threat of losing the vehicle is meant to deter them.

The vehicle is the target. Under § 8.52.030 all right, title and interest in the vehicle vests in the city upon commission of the act giving rise to the nuisance. A peace officer can seize a vehicle on court process, or without process when the seizure is incident to an arrest or a search warrant, or when there is probable cause to believe the vehicle was used in violation of the chapter (§ 8.52.040). The city attorney then files a petition for forfeiture with the Superior Court of Riverside County as soon as practicable and within one year of the seizure (§ 8.52.070). Anyone claiming an interest has ten days from the date of the notice of seizure to file a verified claim with the court and must serve the city attorney within ten days of filing (§ 8.52.090). If a claim is timely filed, the city attorney has thirty days from receipt to file the petition, and the city carries the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the vehicle was used for dumping.

Section 8.52.080 sets three innocent-party situations in which the San Jacinto police department returns the vehicle: a jointly owned vehicle with a community property interest that is the family's sole vehicle, an employer who swears it had no knowledge of the dumping, and a rental car agency. The claimant still pays towing, storage and any release fee. Section 8.52.100 lets an owner ask the police department or the city attorney for a voluntary settlement, with a minimum covering towing, storage, attorneys' fees and personnel time and an actual amount set at the city attorney's discretion. Forfeited vehicles are sold, and proceeds go first to innocent lienholders, then to the city's costs, then to the general fund (§ 8.52.110).