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2007 SESSION
078478554Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 33.1-346 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 33.1-346. Dumping trash, companion animals, etc., on highway, right-of-way or private property; penalty.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to dump or otherwise dispose of trash, garbage, refuse, litter, a companion animal for the purpose of disposal, or other unsightly matter, on public property, including a public highway, right-of-way, property adjacent to such highway or right-of-way, or on private property without the written consent of the owner thereof or his agent.
B. When any person is arrested for a violation of this section, and the matter alleged to have been illegally dumped or disposed of has been ejected from a motor vehicle or transported to the disposal site in a motor vehicle, the arresting officer may comply with the provisions of § 46.2-936 in making such arrest.
When a violation of the provisions of this section has been observed by any person, and the matter illegally dumped or disposed of has been ejected or removed from a motor vehicle, the owner or operator of such motor vehicle shall be presumed to be the person ejecting or disposing of such matter. However, such presumption shall be rebuttable by competent evidence.
C. Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall
be sentenced to perform a mandatory minimum of 30
hours of community service picking up trash/litter in the area where
the guilty party was found to have been littering.
Such hours shall be arranged through the local
law-enforcement agency. While performing
such community service, the guilty party shall wear a blaze orange vest with
the phrase, written in a minimum of four-inch
lettering, "I AM A LITTERBUG." The local
law-enforcement agency shall notify the
court of the convicted party's successful completion of such hours of community
service or, upon failure to successfully complete such hours, the convicted
party's failure. Upon receiving a report that a convicted party has failed to
successfully complete all or any portion of the hours imposed as authorized in
this section, the court shall order the convicted person to appear before the
court to determine whether the convicted party unreasonably failed to complete
the hours required. Any person the court determines has unreasonably failed to
complete the hours required shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not less than $250 or more than $2,500, either or both.
In lieu of the imposition of confinement in jail,
the court may order the defendant to perform community service in litter
abatement activities.
D. The governing bodies of counties, cities and towns are hereby authorized to adopt ordinances not in conflict with the provisions of this section, and may repeal, amend or modify such ordinances.
E. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the lawful disposal of such matter in landfills.