The Miami County Municipal Court’s Roadside Litter Collection Program has provided services in Miami County for over 28 years and collected over 2.7 million pounds of litter. The program was originated through a grant provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. When the state funding was later eliminated, the Miami County Commissioners began providing $20,000.00 annually. The Roadside Litter Collection Program is administered and manned by the Miami County Community Service Department of the Miami County Municipal Court and has been a great success.

The Roadside Litter Collection Program is an extremely important part of the Court’s Community Service Program. The sentence imposed on certain offenders may include performing a specified number of hours of community service as part of their punishment and rehabilitation. In addition to holding an offender accountable, the offender in turn gives back to the community where the crimes were actually committed. In addition, the Court has used community service as a means for impecunious and unemployed offenders to “work off” their financial obligations to the Court. Accordingly, the Roadside Litter Collection Program and the grant which helps support it are essential aspects of the mission of the Miami County Municipal Court’s Community Service Program.

During COVID, the Court’s Community Service Program continued to operate; however, not for roadside litter pick-up. Offenders that were sentenced to Community Service reported to the County offices and assisted in keeping the facilities sanitized as well as being permitted to submit verification of hours worked for local non-profit organizations. The problem during COVID was the social distancing limitations imposed by offender transport. The Court and Commissioners look forward to providing this service to our community once again.

The I-75 Cleanup Project will be conducted on Sundays until the north and southbound right-of-ways are litter-free throughout Miami County. As of this reporting date, approximately ½ of the southbound right-of-way, 14 miles, have been completed, resulting in approximately 5,400 pounds of litter.

On occasion, the Court will be asked who can and cannot participate in the Roadside Litter Collection Program. The Court can only supervise individuals that have committed a crime and have been ordered to complete a certain number of Community Service hours, that fall under the Municipal Court’s Jurisdiction. However, anyone else that has an interest in litter collection may contact Josh Smith from the Ohio Department of Transportation, or visit transportation.ohio.gov to see how they can participate in the department’s Adopt-A-Highway Program.

The litter collection program is a collaboration between ODOT, the Sanitary Engineers Office, our County Commissioners, the Municipal Court, and the County Sheriff’s Office.