Friendly Reminders About Yardsigns

It's campaign season again, and that means signs are popping up around the county. We haven't heard any complaints yet about signs where they shouldn't be. We like that and want to keep it that way. So here's a refresher on the rules.

Our number one concern is safety. Yard signs can't be in the public right of way. In the rural part of the county, right of way generally extends 33 feet from the center line of the road and includes the ditch.  Within cities, the right of way includes the area between the sidewalk and street.

WRONG: between sidewalk and street

RIGHT: Inside of sidewalk

I can haz votes?

That covers most of our complaints but we see some raised hands here.

Isn't it too early to put signs up? I thought it was only the last 30 days you could have signs up.

That ordinance may still be on the books, but the courts decided it was an unfair restriction on free speech and it can't be enforced.

When do signs have to come down?

They don't. We still see a few strays from the 2012 caucuses. Or maybe they're early for the 2016 caucuses. We don't know.

What about signs at businesses?

Those are OK for issue campaigns, but generally not for candidate campaigns. Here's the details. There aren't any issues on the June 3 ballot.

Someone across from the polling place has signs up.

Campaigning isn't allowed within 300 feet of the polls. However, there's an exception for people's houses, so if someone happens to live near a polling place they can leave their sign up.

Someone has a sign where it shouldn't be. Can you come take it down?

We don't have a special Yard Sign Police Unit on standby. If there's a sign near a polling place on Election Day, our poll workers will take it down. Complaints about signs in the right of way should be directed to the appropriate city streets department, or in the rural part of the county, Johnson County Secondary Roads. They'll remove signs as the schedule permits. (Secondary Roads has a good collection.)  Don't risk a confrontation by taking them down yourselves.

Complaints about possible illegal sign placement on corporate property should be directed to Iowa Ethics, (515) 281-4028, during office hours: 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Monday – Friday.  They don't have yard sign police either, but can reprimand a campaign after the fact.