Tazewell County, IL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Sec. 91.46, Public Nuisance Litter
- Applies to
- Owners/tenants of unincorporated county land
- Lawful exceptions
- Designated sites, containers, emergencies
- Farm equipment
- Excluded from litter definition
- Maximum fine
- $750 per day under Sec. 10.99
Summary
Tazewell County declares litter on real property a public nuisance and bans property owners and tenants from letting it accumulate outside a lawful disposal site, container or narrow emergency exception. Violations run through the county's general penalty structure, which reaches $750 per day of continued dumping.
It is hereby declared a nuisance to the public safety and welfare and a public nuisance if litter exists upon real property. It shall be unlawful for any owner or tenant in control to permit litter to exist on such property unless: (1) The property has been designated as an appropriate disposal site for litter by federal, state, or local government entities; (2) The litter is placed in a receptacle or other container intended by the owner or tenant in lawful possession of that property for the deposit of liter; or (3) The person is lawfully acting in or reacting to any emergency situation where health and safety is threatened, and removes and properly disposes of such litter when the emergency situation no longer exists.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-7: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. LU-21-12, passed 9-29-2021; and Res. LU-26-09, passed 7-29-2026).
Full Breakdown
46, PUBLIC NUISANCE LITTER, makes it unlawful for any owner or tenant in control of real property in unincorporated Tazewell County to permit litter to exist there, unless the property is a government-designated disposal site, the litter sits in a receptacle intended for that purpose, or someone is actively responding to an emergency threatening health and safety and removes the litter once the emergency passes. The chapter's LITTER definition, carried in Sec. 45, is broad: it covers garbage, glass, metal, plastic or paper containers, packaging, motor vehicle parts, furniture, appliances, oil, dead animal carcasses and 'any object likely to injure any person, or anything else of any unsightly or unsanitary nature,' while specifically excluding used or antiquated farm equipment, a carve-out that matters in a farming county like Tazewell.
Sec. 46 sits next to the county's vacated-premises rule (Sec. 48), which separately requires anyone leaving a lot or structure to first remove all garbage and refuse, and its catch-all 'other nuisances' section (Sec. 50), which reaches open dumping and open burning of garbage. As with the rest of Chapter 91, this rule only reaches the unincorporated county; municipalities inside Tazewell County enforce dumping separately.
Violations & Fines
The text of Sec. 91.46 itself notes 'Penalty, see § 91.99.' Section 91.99(A) directs any Chapter 91 violation without its own specific penalty, which includes Sec. 91.46, to the county's general penalty at Sec. 10.99: a fine of not more than $750 for each violation, with each day the litter remains counted as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dumping old farm equipment on my land illegal dumping under this section?
Can a landowner ever legally have litter on their property?
How much can the fine reach for repeated illegal dumping?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tazewell County
Compare Tazewell County to another location·View the Illinois trash & recycling overview
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