Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Troup County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol and Troup County Marshal’s Office are teaming up to inform the community about loose trash flying out of the back of trucks and trailers.

Sheriff James Woodruff said that there are officers located around town handing out informational flyers to residents.

“We want to make people aware that there is trash blowing out of the back of their truck whenever they are hauling it to the dump,” Woodruff said. “We are reminding people to make sure you tie your trash up securely in a bag. Make sure the bag isn’t too light and will blow out the back.”

During the holidays, local law enforcement and the Troup County Government met to try and nail down how to help the trash problems in the community.

“The commissioners, along with Troup County Manager Eric Mosley have been very instrumental in helping us do this,” Woodruff said. “We just want to get a hold of this. There’s so much trash on the side of the road.”

Woodruff said he takes a lot of pride in the community and wants to encourage other citizens to do the same.

“For visitors coming in and for our own families, you don’t want to ride down the roads and see trash everywhere,” Woodruff said. “Hopefully, this is going to be another step up to getting our community a little cleaner.”

In the coming weeks, officers will begin handing out citations instead of informational flyers.

“We want everyone to be informed first before we start handing out citations,” Woodruff said. “It will either be one of the two citations. It could be an unsecured load where the load is not secured in your truck or car. Or you could receive a littering citation.”

Anyone who has questions or concerns can call the Troup County Sheriff’s Office (706) 883-1616. TCSO will also be posting information on its Facebook page @troupsheriff.