Wayne County, IN Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Wayne County Code § 52.06(C) makes it unlawful for any person to engage in public disposal of refuse on any land, premises or property that has not been approved by the Health Officer as a public disposal site. The same section reaches haulers: under § 52.06(D), anyone who employs or permits another person to transport refuse away from its point of origin is liable if that refuse is discarded along public roads or on unapproved land, unless the original owner can identify who collected, transported and disposed of it.

Section 52.06(E) separately bars disposing of refuse at its place of origin in quantities that create a public health hazard. Enforcement runs through the Wayne County Health Department: inspectors document violations and the Health Officer can suspend or revoke a disposal-site operator's permit, temporarily without hearing under § 52.05(A) for any violation, or after a hearing under § 52.05(B) for serious or repeated violations. Penalties are set countywide by § 52.99: a first offense draws a fine of not more than $500, a second offense not more than $1,000, and a third or subsequent offense not more than $1,000 plus up to 90 days of imprisonment, with each day a violation continues after an abatement deadline counting as a separate offense.

Existing unapproved refuse sites had to be eliminated by January 1, 1971 under § 52.06(B), either by hauling the refuse to an approved site or, with Health Officer approval, compacting and covering it with two feet of earth.