Rules for political signs in Topeka

TOPEKA (KSNT) - The 2024 Kansas primary is closing in and you may have started seeing political ads on TV or online. Soon, you'll start seeing those political signs in people's yards.

June 21 is when Kansans are able to start placing political signs in their yards, but there are certain rules you'll have to follow.

"If you're putting a sign in your yard, just make sure it's not next to a corner street corner and then look at the city's website to make sure you understand those right of way requirements," Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell said.

For Topeka, that public right-of-way is 15 feet behind the curb, or one foot behind a public sidewalk in residential areas. Signs are also not allowed to be attached to traffic signs and signals or utility poles. And that's just a few of these rules.

"There's over 600 statutes relating to election, so I think it is tough for the public to know exactly who to call on some of these things," Howell said. "I expect to get some phone calls about it. We'll probably, generally, if it's just about campaign signs and where they're placed we'll probably encourage people to call the city, or call the township or call the county."

It's not just within city limits. The Kansas Department of Transportation says they're not even allowed on highway right of ways.

"The primary reason is it distracts drivers, and secondarily it gets in the way of our maintenance activities primarily," KDOT Highway Maintenance Superintendent David Studebaker said. "And then of course the political thing, is always a, multiple sided thing. We don't take sides. That's not our job."

But it is their job to pick those signs up if they see them.

"If it's there we're going to remove it, we're going to bring it to the nearest KDOT office and we'll put it in a storage area," Studebaker said. "If you lose a sign that has some value, If you contact KDOT, we'll try to find it for you if we picked it up."

When it comes to after the election, any political signs that have not been claimed from K-Dot will be disposed of. For a full list of the city rules on political signs click here.