CAUSS Working with Code Enforcement

Over the years, CAUSS has been in contact with a number of Code Enforcement offices and associations across the country. We have found practically all of them to be extremely receptive to our willingness to work with them in keeping our neighborhoods free of illegal signs.

We encourage you, as a lawful citizen, to contact Code Enforcement (CE) in your city and county to discuss removing street spam - especially signs that are routinely put up by repeat offenders. Also contact your state Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding signs on public highway right of ways. You can request to have your name kept off of documentation, if you wish. Contacting CE and DOT offices will help in the following ways:

• By contacting the offices, you will be able to inform them of problem areas. They can then pay special attention to those locations.
• You will let CE know that illegal signs are offensive and that citizens want them removed. This will help encourage them to focus on sign problems. For example, one city near Denver requested that all of its employees remove illegal signs wherever they saw them.
• CE and DOT may or may not encourage you to remove illegal signs in your area. Some are concerned about potential liability (e.g., if you are injured) and may discourage you from taking any action to remove signs yourself.
• CE and DOT offices will be able to track the number of citizen calls about illegal signs. These calls can be used to help allocate adequate budgets for sign removal. For example, one city near Denver dedicates two trucks to sign removal. Another sends CE out on the weekends when spammers think it is safe to place illegal signs.
• When contacting CE, DOT, or other government agencies, ask about programs that use volunteers to remove illegal signs, pick up litter, or otherwise maintain or beautify public spaces. These programs can be very effective in controlling illegal signs. If they don't exist, ask if you can get one started.

In the past, CAUSS attempted to maintain a list on this page of Code Enforcement contacts across the United States. Due to the enormity of the database and time required to keep it current, CAUSS has decided not to maintain this information here.

If should be fairly easy for you to locate the Code Enforcement office in your city or county. Check the city or county website, or simply call the main number and ask for the department that deals with illegal signs. If you need additional help from CAUSS, you can contact CAUSS.