Still seeing political lawn signs in Boise? Don’t remove them, here’s what to do instead

It’s been over a week since the polls closed for the Idaho primaries, and political lawn signs are still visible alongside roads around the Treasure Valley.

Idaho law states that political lawn signs on roads in the public right-of-way must be removed within 48 hours of the election. Treasure Valley residents have been posting online about the number of lawn signs still left standing and their willingness to take the signs down themselves.

Reddit user Jnewtown1018 said they saw multiple signs on Thursday that are still up, including on the corner of Eagle and Overland Roads in Meridian and on the Black Cat Overpass above Interstate 84.

But doing so would be illegal and could incur a penalty if caught by the police department from where the sign was removed, according to Ada County Highway District deputy director Shandy Lam.

“Taking someone else’s sign or vandalizing someone’s sign, that’s going to be on the Boise Police Department, Meridian Police Department, whatever jurisdiction they’re in, that would be the enforcement agency,” Lam told the Idaho Statesman. “So while we can’t speak to the legalities of that, no, people should not be touching signs that are not theirs.”

Lam said that ACHD is working to remove signs from ACHD-controlled roads and that residents can report any remaining signs by calling 208-387-6100 or using the highway district’s TellUs Form online. ACHD cannot remove signs that are on private property.

“Sometimes it’s confusing as to what is public right-of-way and what is private property on some of the corners and things like that,” Lam said. “So, just so people understand, we do not remove signs from private property.”

The public right of way is any land on which the general public is allowed to travel without being hindered, such as sidewalks and streets on city property. Private property is anything not owned by the government, such as houses and other privately-owned real estate and businesses.

ACHD is also not in charge of removing signs along highways, with that responsibility falling to the Idaho Transportation Department. ITD employees are also working to remove lawn signs along highways and can also be reached by calling 208-334-8000 or using the department’s online contact form.

ITD will hold political signs for 10 days for collection before disposing of them.

There is no exception for candidates who won in the primary election either, Lam said. Even though they now have the general election in November, candidates must still remove their signs and replace them in the lead-up to the next election.