The rules for billboards in Texas usually give political signs some leeway to fend off claims that incumbents punish challengers, or to prevent a campaign from putting up signs and blaming the opponent. The only catch, Herman said, is that lawmakers have to witness someone in the act, and these types of offenders are typically hired to install signs early in the morning. Residents like Joseph realize that the FM 1960 area is a “sedentary duck lesson for bandit offenders” and that law enforcement personnel have a bigger job to do, but it wants to help them without being a burden. You saw them at the corner of a busy intersection, nailed to telephone poles and placed along the streets of the city of Dallas. They are called bandit signs, and last year the city spent about $65,000 to remove them. Faced with this, Castex-Tatum has often said that companies deny hanging up the signs. What they never do is deny the problem. City Inspector Arlene Rodriguez records bandit signs on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 on McCullough Street downtown. BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI/STAFF Bandit signs have decreased slightly during the pandemic, Joyce noted. Any type of signage in the public right-of-way — which extends from electric poles on one side of the road to the other — is considered a sign of banditry, according to the Harris County District Attorney`s Office. “We can take it or file a complaint,” he said. “For the big company, he signs with a value of more than $25, if we take it, we have to give it to the gendarme`s office and he notifies the owner of the company.” In 2013, the county issued a $106,000 ruling against a loan repair company for violating the Bandit Sign Act.
Herman said residents continue to ask what they can do. An increase in bandit signs along the FM 1960 corridor between I-45 and Route 249 prompted him to seek approval from the county commissioner`s court for “a list of civilian personnel to enforce bandit sign laws in accordance with the Transportation Code,” according to court documents. “When we catch them, they laugh and think it`s a cost to do business,” said Martha Castex-Tatum, a houston District K city councilwoman, noting that the maximum penalty of $1,000 for placing signs on public lands has proven to be less of a deterrent. Lipton has removed the bandit signs for 20 years and said that while the district attorney has limited resources, it`s good that they have volunteers willing to help with the effort. It helps volunteers understand the “broken windows” theory as a guide to how offenders may think residents see their community when they let it be invaded by signs. Castex-Tatum formed a special district cleanup team to fix the signs when she took office in mid-2018, but said her office was still struggling to track complaints. The other penalty is a civil offence against companies that are considered repeat offenders. If a company is expected to circumvent the law by continuing to have its bandit signs affixed, it can face fines of up to $1,000 per day.
Bandit signs will be placed in the back of a truck after District K cleanups find and remove lawn and pole signs on April 10, 2021 in Houston. The group is able to shoot between 300 and 400 characters per month. Even with what some may consider significant progress for volunteers “between the ages of 40 and 50” with a few retirees, Sperry said she wants them to have more help. “Most parishioners don`t appreciate the signs,” Joseph said. “I don`t think they get a lot of paying customers.” Nicolas Cortez (qc), a Houston City Public Works employee, collects bandit signs along Reed Road in Houston on Wednesday, January 9, 2008. Municipal employees regularly pick up signs in public sections. (Chronicle) Sharon Steinmann bandit signs are illegal in Texas, but as anyone who has seen a street in Houston can attest, the fact that they break the law has not diminished their popularity as an advertising medium. “When people see that, what are their first impressions. when they go in 1960? Sperry said. She participated in the 1960 Renaissance Revitalization Initiative ten years ago, which she says “fell through,” but she got back to the effort when she saw a Nextdoor message from Joseph about bandit signs. “These `We buy houses` signs, I don`t pay attention to them,” said Charlotte Matthews, 33, who lives in Greenspoint.
“I can`t tell you what the phone number is, and I see the signs every day.” While they`re not illegal in Harris County, human direction signs — signs held by someone waving them in front of a roadside store — are also a horror, Latimer said. Eddie Dancy – with the District K community cleanup team – removes a bandit sign from a power pole in Houston on April 10, 2021. Two parishioners who took the Bandit Sign Ranger course, Mary Joseph and Betty Sperry, are actively fighting what Joseph calls the “infestation” of bandits in their area. Both are decades-old residents who have seen a growing number of bandit signs throughout the region, which Joseph says look more dilapidated than they did 20 years ago. Penalties for overloading rights-of-way with signs such as “We pay cash for houses” or “No credit required” are managed in two ways. On the criminal side, placing signs of illegal bandits is a Class C offence punishable by a fine of up to $500. These panels are usually located directly in the driver`s field of vision, blocking the line of sight and causing distraction.