Inmate work crews leave the Bradley County jail five days a week to collect litter and debris from along local roadsides. But often the benefits of these efforts are short-lived, as they again are littered with paper cups, food wrappers and paper bags that were haphazardly thrown from the windows of passing cars.

Sheriff Tim Gobble noticed that to be the case as he drove through an area that was cleaned days before by one of two inmate crews.

So, beginning on March 1st, patrol deputies have been instructed to strictly enforce the state’s litter law and to issue citations when anyone of observed throwing trash from a vehicle.

"If we can get the public to realize how much litter we pick up each day, I believe they would be shocked and when picked up more begins to appear within days," said Gobble.

In Tennessee, a person commits littering who:

• Knowingly places, drops or throws litter on any public or private property without permission and does not immediately remove it;
• Negligently places or throws glass or other dangerous substances on or adjacent to water which the public has access to for swimming or wading, or on or within 50 feet of a public highway, or
• Negligently discharges sewage, minerals, oil products or litter into any public waters or lakes within this state.

Violators face a fine, court costs, and the possibility of performing community service. 

Other statutes deal with the more serious violations of mitigated criminal littering, criminal littering, and aggravated criminal littering.

Using jail labor helps keep costs of litter pick-up to a minimum. Participants in the sheriff’s program and road department program are not paid money but are allowed to "earn" credits that can affect the balance of their sentence. Each crew covers several miles each day.

Sheriff Gobble said, "Protecting our environment is one of the most important aspects of public safety. There is no excuse for throwing trash and debris from an automobile onto the roadway, none."

"While I have found many zero tolerance policies to be code words for zero common sense, zero tolerance policies for littering our highways is common sense. And that is why I am instructing our deputies to crack down on those who litter."