Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Issues Advisory Reminding Citizens of Illegality of Stealing Campaign Signs

With the final countdown of days until the November 3rd General Election, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is issuing an advisory today to remind our citizens that stealing campaign signs is against the law.

“I have recently received some phone calls and spoken with some of our citizens regarding campaign signs that they have displayed that reportedly have been stolen,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “Stealing campaign signs is against the law and if a citizen believes that a campaign sign has been stolen, they are welcome to file a report if they wish to prosecute those responsible.”

According to Section 7-25-210 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, it states: “It is unlawful to deface, vandalize, tamper with or remove a lawfully placed political campaign sign prior to the election without permission of the candidate or party.”

Anyone who violates this law is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, can be fined as much as $100 dollars and/or imprisoned for up to 30 days.

The law itself does not apply to governmental entities who remove a sign due to “noncompliance with applicable law” or an employee of a governmental entity who removes a sign “within the course and scope of his employment.”