Franklin County Commissioners approve changes to the county's litter ordinance

Franklin County commissioners this week approved changes to the county’s comprehensive litter ordinance so that homeowners who are cited under the rule aren’t immediately facing a criminal charge for littering.

The County created the litter ordinance in 1997 as part its efforts to fight illegal dumping and other pollution around the county.

The ordinance sets penalties for people found dumping trash on public or private property in the county, as well as in local waterways.

It has a clause which says that if three or more items in an illegal dump can be traced back to one person, that person becomes liable for cleaning up the trash.  

Punishment under the county’s litter law depends on the seriousness of the offense. 

In the original rule, offenses were almost immediately punished as a misdemeanor or a third degree felony.

Under changes approved this week, the punishment will include civil penalties ranging from 100 dollars for a first offense to 250 dollars for a second offense.

If you break the litter law three times you can then be charged with a 2nd degree misdemeanor and a 4^th offense is a 1^st degree misdemeanor.

The new rule also gives officials the authority to give homeowners warnings and three days to clean up their trash before they are charged.

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