Don’t Mess With Fayette

“LITTERING IS (unl)AWFUL,” the sign on Rocky Creek Road says. That didn’t stop someone from dumping their drink cups, food wrappers and paper bags around the signpost.

Such sights are all too common along the winding back roads in Fayette County.

“The Sheriff takes littering very seriously,” said Chief Deputy Randy Noviskie of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. “It happens everywhere, and we’re always going to have to deal with it. But it dirties up our County.”

Noviskie said simple littering charges are a class C misdemeanor enforceable by a fine of up to $500. But serious cases of littering can bring class B or even class A misdemeanor charges with fines of thousands of dollars, or even state jail felony charges for the most egregious offenses.

Deputies will pull people over if they witness someone throwing garbage out their vehicle or when they see trash blowing out the back of a pickup.

“Sometimes it’s just an unsecured load,” Noviskie said.

Often, the matter is resolved with the person picking up their litter.

When the Sheriff’s Office gets a report of littering, Noviskie said deputies will search the garbage for identifying information, such as a name or address.

“If we can find out who did it, we’ll contact them and give them a chance to pick it up,” Noviskie said. “If they refuse or don’t do anything about it, we’ll issue them a citation.”

Noviskie said deputies will write tickets for littering if they can prove the culprit intended to litter.

“If they’re caught, they’ll certainly be cited,” Noviskie said.

Some locations on rural roads seem to be frequent targets for litterers. Noviskie said citizens can assist by setting up game cameras on fences to capture images of the offenders.

“If we can identify the vehicle, we can use that to track the people down and enforce the law,” Noviskie said.