Rockdale County In Line To Get An Environmental Court
The environmental court in Rockdale County will be able to issue civil penalties, not criminal. Those can range from a fine to jail time.
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Sheriff’s deputies or code enforcement officials can give you a citation for littering in Rockdale County.
Soon, penalties for those citations will come from the county’s new environmental court.
Oz Nesbitt, the county’s CEO, said a changing demographic in the county has led to an increase of litter.
“We’ve gotten away from educating people why it’s just not a good practice to throw debris out of your car or your truck going down the highway,” Nesbitt said. “You don’t just take your household garbage and waste and just dump it on the side of the road.”
Nesbitt says they are about three months away from having the court up and running.
He expects the court to take pressure off the code enforcement division. He says code enforcement officials can then focus on larger issues like noise and ordinance violations.
“Our environmental court will focus on dealing with these violators who dump household waste and debris along the county right-of-way or in vacant lots and fields,” Nesbitt said.
The court will be able to issue civil penalties, not criminal. Those can range from a fine to jail time.
Nesbitt said residents won’t have to worry about an increase in taxes. Money for the court will come from the general budget.
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