Political signs to be removed by city employees if left in public rights of way

Published 7:00 am Thursday, August 29, 2019

With the runoff election now over, candidates who still have political signs in the medians and along public roadsides have only a few days to reclaim them.

City of Picayune Code Enforcement Officer Tom Milar said that the city’s ordinance states that the signs need to be removed from the roadside after an election is concluded. Signs can legally be displayed on public property starting 30 days before an election, Milar said. After the election is over, those signs should be reclaimed by the candidates if they want to keep them.

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Milar said he typically waits a few days after an election to remove political signs to give the candidates time to gather them.

“It’s really nice when the candidates go out and pick up their signs,” Milar said.

In the past, signs that were removed by city personnel were taken to the city barn where they were stored for a short time to allow candidates time to claim them. This year, Milar said he will just throw away any signs still in the public rights of way after a couple of days.

“Even if they are still active candidates in the November election, we will still throw them out,” Milar said.

Political signs can legally be put back in the rights of way 30 days before the general election, set of Nov. 5.