By DOUG WILSON

Herald-Whig Senior Writer

Political campaign signs have been cropping up where they don't belong, and transportation officials in Illinois and Missouri are trying to stop the illegal placements.

Tana Akright, a community relations specialist for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said the Hannibal district is trying to educate politicians and businesses about laws concerning sign placement.

"We've already had some political signs in the wrong places in Marion and Ralls counties," Akright said.

State law prohibits those types of signs along state rights of way and directs that signs "be removed by local maintenance personnel and held at the nearest MoDOT maintenance facility." Owners of the signs may claim them within 30 days, but signs may be discarded if they are not retrieved within 30 days.

Missouri may have a bigger problem than Illinois at this point, due to an August primary election. But Illinois officials are preparing for the heavy campaign season.

"It's a problem every election year," said Paris Erwin, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Roger Driskell, IDOT's regional engineer, said the campaign sign problems are always bad in presidential election years.

"We don't send crews out specifically to pick them up, but we'll pick them up when we're doing routine maintenance" such as mowing, Driskell said.

Quincy IDOT workers say they watch for any signs that block visibility or cause a safety hazard, whether the sign is political or not.

Quincy City Clerk Jenny Hayden hands out information packets about sign placement to everyone who takes out a candidate petition form.

Non-political signs can create a problem as well.

Akright said real estate open house signs have become a weekly nuisance in fast-growing Lincoln County. She said Realtors often put out the signs on Saturdays and try to pick them up on Mondays.

If the signs block visibility near intersections, they become an immediate concern for law enforcement officials.

Driskell said garage sale signs are an occasional hazard.

-- dwilson@whig.com/221-3372