Tracy, CA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Offense level
- Misdemeanor
- Maximum fine
- $1,000
- Maximum jail term
- 6 months
- Related nuisance rule
- 7-day accumulation limit, § 4.12.265
- Continuing violation
- Each day is a separate offense
Summary
Tracy makes it a misdemeanor to throw or deposit rubbish on any public street or alley. Tracy Municipal Code section 5.04.010 bars dumping garbage, bottles, ashes, stable litter, filth, offal, or any offensive or dangerous matter on city streets, backed by fines up to $1,000 or six months in jail under the code's general misdemeanor penalty.
It shall be unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person in the City to throw or deposit on or in any public street, including alleys, any rubbish, garbage, bottles, glass, crockery, tinware, tinscraps, ashes, stable litter, filth, offal refuse, or offensive or dangerous matter of any kind.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 69).
Full Breakdown
04, General Sanitation, opens Tracy's sanitation title with a flat street-dumping ban. 030(b) sets the penalty at a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, harsher than the escalating $100/$200/$500 infraction fines that apply to code violations the city hasn't singled out as misdemeanors. 260 declares accumulated weeds, rubbish, refuse, and flammable material on or near any street, parkway, sidewalk, or alley a public nuisance. 020, each day a dumping violation continues counts as a separate offense, so uncleared dumped material can generate cumulative charges. 16, which lets the City choose among criminal prosecution, administrative citation, and public-nuisance abatement for the same violation.
Violations & Fines
A first street-dumping conviction can draw a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both, because section 5.04.010 expressly labels the offense a misdemeanor rather than a lesser infraction. Each day dumped material remains counts as a new offense under section 1.04.020, and the City Attorney or District Attorney may instead charge the offense as an infraction at their discretion under section 1.16.030.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dumping trash on a Tracy street a criminal offense?
What if trash piles up on my own property instead of the street?
Can prosecutors reduce a street-dumping charge?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tracy
California rules heatmap·Compare Tracy to another location·View the California trash & recycling overview
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Illegal Dumping in Nearby Cities
How other cities in San Joaquin County handle illegal dumping.