Smyrna, TN Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 17-107 of the Smyrna Municipal Code is short and absolute. It prohibits the disposal of refuse in any quantity by any person in any place, public or private, other than at the site or sites designated for refuse disposal by the Town Council. No minimum volume applies, so the ban reaches a single bag as well as a load. Refuse is defined in § 17-101 to include garbage, rubbish, leaves, brush, and refuse, while dead animals and fowls, body wastes, hot ashes, rocks, concrete, bricks, and similar materials are expressly excluded from that definition.

Related rules reach other kinds of dumping in the Town of Smyrna. Section 16-107 makes it unlawful to litter, place, throw, track, or allow to fall on any street, alley, sidewalk, or other public property any refuse, glass, tacks, mud, or other objects or materials which are unsightly or which obstruct or interfere with the use of public ways. Section 17-102 requires all persons within the town to keep their premises clean and sanitary and free from accumulations of refuse except when stored as Title 17, Chapter 1 provides. Section 13-105 bars open storage of abandoned motor vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, glass, building material, building rubbish, and similar items, and § 13-106 makes the owner, agent, or contractor in charge of a construction or demolition site responsible for any litter that accumulates there before, during, or after the project.

Owners who let debris pile up on their land face a separate track under § 13-104. The Town Manager designates the department or person who enforces it. That person serves written notice by registered or certified mail giving ten days to remedy the condition, or 20 days for a carrier or utility, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The notice tells the owner about the right to a hearing before the Town Manager or a designee. If the owner does not act, the town cleans the property and assesses the cost against the owner, secured by a lien filed with the register of deeds in Rutherford County. On an owner-occupied residence the lien waits until cumulative charges reach $500. The codes enforcement and inspection division can also cite the owner or tenant to municipal court.