During election years such as this one, you can always expect to see hundreds of campaign signs alongside the roadways. It seems that during these times, someone always asks me, “Isn't there a law that says you can't put campaign signs in the right-of way?” Actually, there is such a law, although it often seems to go unenforced in this area.

Under Alabama Code Section 23-1-6, signs, markers and advertising on the rights-of-way of state-controlled highways are prohibited except for official signs or markers placed in the right of way by the State Department of Transportation. Any object placed in the right-of-way that does not have special permission from the DOT is there illegally. This includes political candidate signs, crosses at the scene of fatal car accidents, “for sale” signs, homemade yard sale signs, etc.

In fact, the DOT has procedures in place to remove obstructions or encroachments of this nature from the right-of-way. If alerted to the problem, the DOT will either ask the sign owner to remove it or issue an “encroachment notice.” If the owner will not remove the obstruction, the DOT can choose to go through a legal process which includes warning letters from a DOT attorney and, in some cases, an actual court appearance. If a sign interferes with motorists' sight distance or creates a safety hazard, however, the DOT has the option to simply remove the obstruction immediately.

There are criminal penalties for those who place signs or other obstructions in the right-of-way, although I believe this type of remedy is rarely used by the DOT. Alabama Code Section 23-1-288 notes that whoever erects or maintains a sign in violation of the provisions of this division is be guilty of a class C misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be punished accordingly.

So, candidates (and others) should be careful where they place their signs; make sure they are out of the right-of-way of any road or highway and do not obstruct a drivers' view of the road. Otherwise, the DOT may come calling.

On another note, I would like to announce the addition of Summer McWhorter to my law office. Summer is a graduate of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and has been practicing in Centre for several months. Summer is from Cedar Bluff and many of you know her parents, educators Paul and Betty McWhorter. Before moving back home, Summer worked with her cousin, Bill McWhorter, in Pell City. She is also cousin to Bob McWhorter, who practiced in Centre for many years. I am very glad to have Summer join what I guess I can now call the “firm.”