(A) An outdoor advertising sign which violates the provisions of this article is illegal and the Department of Transportation shall give thirty days’ notice by certified or registered mail to the owner of the advertising sign and to the owner of the property on which the sign is located for its removal. However, a sign lawfully in existence along the interstate system or the federal-aid primary system on November 3, 1971, or which was lawfully erected after that date, which is not in conformity with the provisions contained in this article, is not required to be removed until just compensation has been paid for it. Except as provided in § 57-25-160, no sign otherwise required to be removed under this article for which just compensation is authorized to be paid by the department is required to be removed if the federal share of at least seventy-five percent of the just compensation to be paid upon its removal is not available for the payment. Nothing in this section prevents the removal of nonconforming signs for which no federal share is payable in those instances where no compensation has to be paid.

(B) Employees or agents of the department may go upon the property upon which an illegal sign is located after expiration of the thirty-day period for the purpose of its removal. The period of the notice must be computed from the date of mailing. No notice, however, is required to be given to the owner of an advertising sign for which a permit has not been obtained. The moving of an illegal sign from one location to another without a permit having been obtained for the illegal sign does not require the department to provide additional notice to the sign owner before removing the sign, even if the sign is moved from the property of one owner to the property of another.

(C) When the department removes an illegal sign, it must be reimbursed the removal expenses by the sign owner. The sign must be maintained in the possession of the department for no more than thirty days during which the sign may be claimed by the owner upon payment of the expenses. If the sign is not claimed during the thirty days, it is declared abandoned, becomes the property of the department, and may be disposed of through sale or in any other manner which the department considers appropriate. Even if the owner does not recover the sign, he remains liable to the department for the expenses incurred in removing and storing the sign. Until the expenses are reimbursed, the sign owner must not be issued a permit for an outdoor advertising sign from the department.

(D) Review of the department’s determination that a sign is illegal is through an administrative hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. Written request for the review must be received by the department within the thirty-day period.