The South Dakota Department of Transportation reminds the public that political campaign and ballot-issue signs cannot be placed on state highway rights-of-way.
Director of Operations Craig Smith says illegal signs create a safety hazard and may distract motorists from seeing important regulatory or directional signing. He says all signs in the right of way that are not required for traffic control (SDCL 31-28-14) are prohibited and will be removed by SDDOT crews when they see them or when the signs are reported. Attempts to contact the owner of the signs to pick them up will be made.
People involved in political campaigns are also reminded the towns of Pierre and Fort Pierre each have ordinances dictating when signs can be displayed, when they must be removed, allowable sign size and allowable sign placement. Within city limits of both towns, political signs are not allowed to be on display prior to 30 days before an election. For this year’s general election (Nov. 8, 2022), that means signs can’t be on display before Oct. 9.
Municipal ordinances regulating placement and removal of campaign signs within towns and cities do not have precedence over state jurisdiction and supervision of state highway rights of way within municipalities. Please find additional sign placement guidance on the SDDOT website at https://dot.sd.gov/inside-sddot/forms-publications/brochures.
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