People involved in political campaigns are in high gear working to persuade voters to vote for their particular cause or candidate.
But, Pierre City Commissioner Jamie Huizenga says it’s still too early for campaign signs to be up within city limits.
Fort Pierre city ordinance also says political signs can’t be displayed until 30 days before an election. Again, this year that means signs can go up starting Sunday (Oct. 9, 2022).
The Pierre and Fort Pierre ordinances also dictate when signs must be removed, allowable sign size and allowable sign placement.
The South Dakota Department of Transportation reminds the public that political campaign 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.
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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