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Jeremy Douglas
Olmsted County Public Works
2122 Campus Dr. SE Suite 200 (mailing address)
Rochester MN 55904
507-328-7060

1188 50th Street SE (physical address)
Rochester MN 55904
507-328-7060

Public Notice: Political campaign signs not permitted on county road right of way

Placement of campaign and other advertising signage on any county highway rights of way is not allowed under state law, according to the Olmsted County Public Works Department. All state, county, city and township roads and highways fall under the same state law.

Highway rights of way include driving lanes, inside and outside shoulders, ditches, back slopes, and sight corners at intersections. Typically, the right of way is marked with triangle signs that are green and white.

Landowner consent is needed before signs are placed on private property outside of the right of way.

Violation of the law (Minn. Stat. 160.2715) is a misdemeanor. Civil penalties also may apply if the placement of signs contributes to a motor vehicle crash and injures a person or damages a motor vehicle that runs off the road.

The Minnesota Outdoor Advertising Control Act (Minn. Stat. 173.15) also prohibits placing advertising materials on public utility poles, trees and shrubs, and painting or drawing on rocks or natural features.

Olmsted County crews will remove unlawfully placed signs and temporarily store them at the County Public Works Service Center (PWSC) for a period of two weeks. The PWSC is located at 1188 50th Street SE, Rochester, MN 55904. Pick up may be coordinated by calling 507-328-7060.

Minnesota Statute 160.2715 further prohibits the placement of fences, buildings, planting of crops or landscape (trees, bushes, flowers, rocks, etc..) within County right of way.

Minnesota Statutes 2019

160.2715 RIGHT-OF-WAY USE; MISDEMEANORS.

(a) Except for the actions of the road authorities, their agents, employees, contractors, and utilities in carrying out their duties imposed by law or contract, and except as herein provided, it shall be unlawful to:

(1) obstruct any highway or deposit snow or ice thereon;

(2) plow or perform any other detrimental operation within the road right-of-way except in the preparation of the land for planting permanent vegetative cover or as authorized under section 160.232;

(3) erect a fence on the right-of-way of a trunk highway, county state-aid highway, county highway, or town road, except to erect a lane fence to the ends of a livestock pass;

(4) erect or reconstruct driveway headwalls in or on the right-of-way of a highway or road, except as may be allowed by permit from the road authority imposing reasonable regulations as are necessary to prevent interference with the construction, maintenance, and safe use of the highway or road and its appurtenances;

(5) dig any holes in any highway, except to locate markers placed to identify sectional corner positions and private boundary corners;

(6) remove any earth, gravel, or rock from any highway;

(7) obstruct any ditch draining any highway or drain any noisome materials into any ditch;

(8) place or maintain any building or structure within the limits of any highway;

(9) place or maintain any advertisement within the limits of any highway, except as provided in section 160.27, subdivision 7;

(10) paint, print, place, or affix any advertisement or any object within the limits of any highway, except as provided in section 160.27, subdivision 7;

(11) deface, mar, damage, or tamper with any structure, work, material, equipment, tools, signs, markers, signals, paving, guardrails, drains, or any other highway appurtenance on or along any highway;

(12) remove, injure, displace, or destroy right-of-way markers, or reference or witness monuments, or markers placed to preserve section or quarter-section corners;

(13) improperly place or fail to place warning signs and detour signs as provided by law;

(14) drive over, through, or around any barricade, fence, or obstruction erected for the purpose of preventing traffic from passing over a portion of a highway closed to public travel or to remove, deface, or damage any such barricade, fence, or obstruction.

(b) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

History: 1959 c 500 art 1 s 27; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7; 1980 c 435 s 1; 1980 c 533 s 2; 1986 c 398 art 27 s 2; 1986 c 435 s 1; 1989 c 179 s 2; 1995 c 23 s 1; 1998 c 283 s 1; 2004 c 295 art 2 s 15