Alabama Littering Law: Fines, Jail Time, and Spilled Loads

Alabama’s littering law makes it a Class B misdemeanor to knowingly deposit trash on land or in water, to leave dangerous debris where the public gathers, to discharge sewage or oil into state waterways, or to let litter fall from a vehicle onto a road. A first conviction can cost up to $500 and up to six months in jail. Repeat convictions can run up to $3,000, with extra fines stacked on top for certain items.¹

What the Statute Actually Prohibits

Section 13A-7-29 defines criminal littering through four separate categories of conduct.¹

The first is knowingly depositing litter on any public or private property, or into any public or private waters, without permission. The second is negligently leaving glass or other sharp or dangerous objects near water where the public swims or fishes, or on a public highway or right-of-way. The third covers discharging sewage, oil products, or litter into a river, inland lake, or stream within state or territorial waters. The fourth reaches anyone who throws, drops, or allows litter to fall onto a highway, road, street, or right-of-way without immediately removing it, including glass and hazardous debris left behind after a wreck is cleared.

“Litter” is defined broadly. It includes rubbish, refuse, waste material, garbage, dead animals, paper, glass, cans, bottles, trash, scrap metal, debris, plastic, cigarettes, cigars, containers of urine, food containers, rubber tires, and any other foreign substance. Agricultural products in their natural state that unintentionally fall onto a public road are excluded. A farmer whose hay bales shift and scatter isn’t automatically guilty.¹

When “I Didn’t Mean To” Won’t Save You

For two of the four categories, intent is not a defense. If you discharge sewage or oil into a waterway, or if litter falls from your vehicle onto a highway, the statute holds you responsible regardless of whether you knew or intended it.¹ Unsecured cargo that blows out of a truck bed and an oil leak dripping into a stream both fit the statute even when the driver had no idea.

Fines and Jail Time

First Offense

A first conviction carries a fine of up to $500.¹ Because criminal littering is a Class B misdemeanor, the judge may also impose a jail sentence of up to six months.² Jail for a first-time litterer is uncommon, but the statute allows it.

Second and Later Offenses

A second or later conviction runs on one of two tracks. The court imposes either a fine of up to $1,000 combined with up to 100 hours of community service picking up litter along roads, sidewalks, and waterways, or a fine of between $2,000 and $3,000.¹ The higher track has a $2,000 floor, so there’s no light-fine option on that path. The six-month jail exposure remains available.

Extra Fines for Certain Items

On top of the base penalty, littering any of the following adds up to $500 per violation:¹

Cigarettes or cigars
Containers of urine
Food containers

These add-ons stack. A cigarette butt and a fast-food bag out the window on a second offense can mean up to $1,000 in extras before the base fine is figured.

Spilled Loads From Vehicles

A separate statute reaches operators and owners of vehicles loaded with gravel, rock, slag, bricks, or similar material that spills onto a public road. That violation is also a Class B misdemeanor under the criminal littering statute, as is operating any vehicle in a way that causes litter to fall onto a highway or right-of-way.³ The agricultural exemption carries over: crops or livestock feed that unintentionally falls from a vehicle isn’t treated as litter.

If Your Name Turns Up in Someone Else’s Dumped Trash

If a pile of illegally dumped material contains a series of items with your name on them — bank statements, utility bills, credit card statements, and similar financial documents — Alabama law creates a rebuttable presumption that you knowingly deposited it.¹

“Rebuttable” is the word to hold onto. You can defeat the presumption by showing you didn’t dump the material: your trash was stolen, a hauler dumped it illegally, or some other explanation. Before a county or municipality prosecutes based only on that presumption, you’re entitled to written notice identifying the items found with your name, and 15 days to present evidence rebutting it.⁴ Advertising, marketing, and campaign materials bearing your name are not enough on their own to trigger the presumption.

Unauthorized Dumping Is a Different Problem

Large-scale unauthorized dumping sits in a different statute — the Solid Wastes Disposal Act — not the criminal littering section. Anyone who creates, operates, or contributes waste to an unauthorized dump is responsible for removing the waste and closing the site under state environmental rules.⁵

Landowners have exposure too. If the people who created the dump don’t clean it up, the landowner becomes responsible for removal and closure. An innocent landowner who had no role in creating or contributing to the dump can avoid fines and penalties by participating in the state’s site ranking system and working toward closure with reasonable diligence after receiving written notice.⁵

Who Can Write the Ticket

Any law enforcement officer in Alabama can enforce the criminal littering statute. The law also gives citation authority to county solid waste officers and county license inspectors, so a littering ticket doesn’t have to come from a police officer or deputy.¹

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-7-29 – Criminal Littering
2
Justia. Alabama Code 13A-5-7 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 32-5-76 – Spilling Loads or Litter
4
Justia. Alabama Code 13A-7-29 – Criminal Littering
5
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 22-27-10 – Control of Unauthorized Dumping