Bay County, FL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibited acts
- dumping, burying, nuisance accumulation, non-delivery
- Consent required
- written owner consent to place waste
- Base penalty
- up to $500 fine and/or 60 days jail
- Continuing violation
- separate offense counted each day
- Extra remedy
- injunctive relief, no bond required
- Governing law
- Ch. 22, Art. III (Ord. No. 85-04)
Summary
Dumping, leaving or burying solid waste on public or private land without the owner's written consent is banned outright in Bay County under Code Sec. 22-91, and so is letting trash accumulate on your own property until it becomes a nuisance. Violators face the county's general penalty of up to a $500.00 fine and 60 days in jail under Sec. 1-6, with every additional day counted as a separate offense.
Sec. 22-91. - Unlawful disposal of waste; failure to deliver waste. It shall be unlawful for any person to: (1)Dump, leave or bury any solid waste on public or private property without the written consent of the owner of such property;(2)Cause or permit the accumulation on real property owned or controlled by him of solid waste in such quantities as to constitute a nuisance; or(3)Fail to deliver solid waste to the solid waste disposal and resource recovery system within a reasonable period of time. ... a person convicted of a violation of this Code shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00, imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 60 days or by both such fine and imprisonment. With respect to violations of this Code that are continuous with respect to time, each day the violation continues is a separate offense.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 22-91, part of the county's Article III solid waste disposal and resource recovery system (Ord. No. 85-04), makes three things unlawful: dumping, leaving or burying solid waste on public or private property without the property owner's written consent; causing or allowing solid waste to accumulate on property you own or control in quantities that create a nuisance; and failing to deliver solid waste to the county system within a reasonable time. Sec. 22-84 routes enforcement of the whole article, including this section, to the county's general penalty provision, Sec.
1-6, which defines any prohibited act or required-but-unperformed act under the Code as a punishable violation. That general penalty also authorizes the county to seek injunctive or other equitable relief against a continuing dumping problem without posting bond or proving intent, on top of any criminal fine, and imposing a penalty doesn't block the county from also revoking a related license or permit. Scavenging or salvaging waste already deposited at a county sanitary landfill is separately banned under Sec. 22-93, a related but distinct provision from the general illegal-dumping prohibition in Sec. 22-91.
Violations & Fines
A Sec. 22-91 violation is punished under the general penalty, Sec. 1-6(c): a fine up to $500.00, imprisonment in the county jail up to 60 days, or both. Because the section covers continuous conditions like an accumulating nuisance pile, each day the violation continues is treated as a separate offense under Sec. 1-6(c), and the county may pursue injunctive relief against the dumping without needing to post a bond or prove intent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to dump yard debris on someone else's land in Bay County?
Can I be fined for letting trash pile up on my own property?
What's the maximum penalty for illegal dumping in Bay County?
Does each day of an ongoing dumping violation count separately?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bay County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Bay County to another location·View the Florida trash & recycling overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.