Mobile County, AL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Street/waterway dumping ban
- Ala. Code § 45-49-252.14(d)
- Dumping penalty
- Class C misdemeanor
- Junk accumulation limit
- 14 days on your own property
- Junk Control civil penalty
- $150/day, capped at $5,000
- Enforcer
- County Environmental Enforcement Department
- Appeal window
- 14 days to pay or appeal
Summary
Dumping refuse in a street, ditch, lake or private property you don't control is banned under Section 45-49-252.14(d), a Class C misdemeanor, while the county's Junk Control Ordinance separately fines anyone who lets junk, litter or rubbish pile up on their own property for more than 14 days $150 a day, up to $5,000.
(d) No person shall place any refuse in any street, alley, or other public place, or upon private property, whether owned by such person or not, except if it be in proper containers for storage and collection. No person shall throw or deposit refuse in any street, ditch, lake, stream, or other body of water. ... SECTION 3. Control of Junk, Litter and Rubbish It shall be a violation of this Ordinance for any person having an ownership interest in real property, or who leases or manages such property, to allow, permit, or suffer the accumulation of junk, junked motor vehicles, litter or rubbish for more than fourteen (14) days... SECTION 5. Penalties A civil penalty in the amount of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) per day shall be assessed for each violation of this Ordinance. Each day in which a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense...provided, however, that no person shall pay a penalty in excess of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) for any one violation.
Full Breakdown
17 and Section 13A-7-29. The county's separate Mobile County Junk Control Ordinance, adopted under the Alabama Limited Self Governance Act and last amended August 22, 2016, attacks the related problem of junk accumulating on a person's own property: Section 3 makes it a violation for anyone with an ownership, lease, or management interest in real property to "allow, permit, or suffer the accumulation of junk, junked motor vehicles, litter or rubbish for more than fourteen (14) days," with exceptions for permitted composting, building materials stored at an active job site, licensed junkyards, registered antique vehicles, and fully enclosed storage.
for each violation," with each day a separate offense, capped at $5,000 per violation. The county's Environmental Enforcement Department, under its Chief Environmental Officer, enforces the Junk Control Ordinance, and the Process and Procedure Ordinance governs the civil citation and appeal path: a cited owner has 14 days to pay or appeal to the county's three-member Board of Review before the County Commission acts.
Violations & Fines
Dumping refuse on a street, in a ditch, lake or someone else's property is a Class C misdemeanor under Section 45-49-252.17. Separately, letting junk, litter or rubbish sit on your own unincorporated-county property for more than 14 days draws a $150-per-day civil penalty under the Junk Control Ordinance Section 5, capped at $5,000 per violation, with 14 days to pay or appeal to the county's Board of Review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dumping trash on the roadside illegal in Mobile County?
What if junk just piles up in my own yard?
How much is the fine for a Junk Control Ordinance violation?
Can I appeal a junk or dumping citation in Mobile County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mobile County
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