Ohio Code 4511.18 – Purchase, possession or sale of traffic control device
(A) As used in this section, “traffic control device” means any sign, traffic control signal, or other device conforming to and placed or erected in accordance with the manual adopted under section 4511.09 of the Revised Code by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic, including signs denoting the names of streets and highways, but does not mean any pavement marking.
Attorney's Note
Under the Ohio Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Misdemeanor of the third degree | up to 60 days | up to $500 |
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4511.18
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means every natural person, firm, co-partnership, association, or corporation. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, trackless trolleys, and other devices, either singly or together, while using for purposes of travel any highway or private road open to public travel. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Traffic control device: means a flagger, sign, signal, marking, or other device used to regulate, warn, or guide traffic, placed on, over, or adjacent to a street, highway, private road open to public travel, pedestrian facility, or shared-use path by authority of a public agency or official having jurisdiction, or, in the case of a private road open to public travel, by authority of the private owner or private official having jurisdiction. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Traffic control signal: means any highway traffic signal by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and permitted to proceed. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02
(B) No individual shall buy or otherwise possess, or sell, a traffic control device, except when one of the following applies:
(1) In the course of the individual’s employment by the state or a local authority for the express or implied purpose of manufacturing, providing, erecting, moving, or removing such a traffic control device;
(2) In the course of the individual’s employment by any manufacturer of traffic control devices other than a state or local authority;
(3) For the purpose of demonstrating the design and function of a traffic control device to state or local officials;
(4) When the traffic control device has been purchased from the state or a local authority at a sale of property that is no longer needed or is unfit for use;
(5) The traffic control device has been properly purchased from a manufacturer for use on private property and the person possessing the device has a sales receipt for the device or other acknowledgment of sale issued by the manufacturer.
(C) This section does not preclude, and shall not be construed as precluding, prosecution for theft in violation of section 2913.02 of the Revised Code or a municipal ordinance relating to theft, or for receiving stolen property in violation of section 2913.51 of the Revised Code or a municipal ordinance relating to receiving stolen property.
(D) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.