§ 62-229. Interference with official traffic control devices.

(a)

No person shall, without lawful authority, attempt to or in fact alter, deface, injure, knock down, or remove any official traffic sign, traffic control device or any railroad sign or signal, or any inscription, shield, or insignia thereon, or any other part thereof.

(b)

Unless authorized by the department of engineering and public works, it is a misdemeanor for any person to possess any official signal or marker identified as owned by the department of engineering and public works, with the exception of employees of the department, deputies of the sheriff's office, or contractors and their employees while engaged in highway construction approved by the department or the commission.

(c)

Unless authorized by the department of engineering and public works, no person shall place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any highway any sign, signal, marking or device which purports to be, or is an imitation of, or resembles, an official traffic control device or railroad sign or signal, or which attempts to direct the movement of traffic, or which hides from view or interferes with the effectiveness of any official traffic control device or any railroad sign or signal.

(d)

No person shall place or maintain upon any roadway any traffic control sign or signal bearing thereon any commercial advertising.

(e)

This section shall not be deemed to prohibit the erection upon private property adjacent to roadways of signs giving useful directional information and of a type that cannot be mistaken for official signs.

(f)

Every sign, signal, or marking prohibited by this section is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and the sheriff's department is hereby empowered to remove such prohibited sign, signal or marking or to cause it to be removed without notice.

(Ord. No. O-90-9-112, § 5-9, 9-10-90)

State law reference

Similar provisions, T.C.A. §§ 55-8-113, 55-8-114.