(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 54-21-105

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation or the commissioner's designee. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Person: means and includes an individual, a partnership, an association, a corporation, or other entity. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Sign: means an outdoor sign, light, display, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other thing which is designed, intended, or used to advertise or inform any part of the advertising or informative contents of which is visible from any place on the main traveled way of an interstate system or primary system. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Any owner of any outdoor advertising device who has failed to act in accordance with § 54-21-104 must remove the outdoor advertising device immediately.
(2) Failure to remove the outdoor advertising device renders the outdoor advertising device a public nuisance and subject to immediate disposal, removal, or destruction.
(3) In addition, the commissioner has the authority to assess and collect from the owner a civil penalty in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500) for each calendar day after the date that the owner is determined through a contested case hearing to have failed to act in accordance with § 54-21-104. The total amount of the civil penalty imposed each year must not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(4) In addition, or in lieu of subdivisions (a)(1)-(3), the commissioner may enter upon any property on which an outdoor advertising device is located and dispose of, remove, or destroy the outdoor advertising device, all without incurring any liability for those actions.
(b) Prior to invoking this section, the commissioner shall give notice either by certified mail or by personal service to the owner of the outdoor advertising device or occupant of the land on which the outdoor advertising device is located. The notice must specify the basis for the alleged unlawfulness, the remedial action that is required to correct the unlawfulness, and advise that a failure to take the remedial action or request a hearing within forty-five (45) days results in the sign being subject to removal. In addition, the commissioner must give, or have previously given, the owner or operator of the outdoor advertising device an opportunity to request a contested case hearing in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to determine the lawfulness of the outdoor advertising device. For good cause shown, the commissioner may extend the forty-five-day period for remedial action for up to an additional one hundred fifty (150) days, so long as all advertising content is removed from the unlawful outdoor advertising device within the forty-five-day period. If advertising content is placed on the outdoor advertising device during any extended period, the outdoor advertising device may be immediately removed by the commissioner without further notice. The owner of the outdoor advertising device is liable to the state for damages equal to three (3) times the cost of removal, in addition to disgorgement of any profit and gains or benefit derived from the violation and any other applicable fees, costs, or damages. The owner of the land on which the outdoor advertising device is located shall not be presumed to be the owner of the outdoor advertising device simply because it is on the owner’s property.
(c)

(1) If the department has reason to believe that a sign is being operated, in whole or part, as an outdoor advertising device without first obtaining a permit as required under § 54-21-104, the department may issue an investigative request to the owner or operator of the sign, the owner of the property, or any other person for the purpose of obtaining relevant documents or information to determine whether the sign is being operated as an outdoor advertising device.
(2) If, after being served with an investigative request by the department under subdivision (c)(1), the person provides the requested documents or information and the department determines that the sign is being operated as an outdoor advertising device in violation of §§ 54-21-103 and 54-21-104, the department shall issue a written order to the owner or operator of the outdoor advertising device explaining the basis for determining that the sign is an outdoor advertising device and directing the owner or operator of the device to remedy the violation by applying for the applicable outdoor advertising device permit, or by removing the unlawful device, as appropriate, by the date set forth in the order, which shall be no less than sixty (60) days after the date of the order.
(3) The person may appeal the department’s order under subdivision (c)(2) by filing a written notice of appeal with the department within thirty (30) days of the date on which the order is issued. If an appeal is timely filed with the department, the department shall initiate a contested case proceeding under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to hear the person’s appeal.
(4) If a person fails to comply with the department’s investigative request under subdivision (c)(1), or if the department reasonably believes the documents or information provided are incomplete or inaccurate, the department may initiate a contested case proceeding under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act to compel the production of relevant documents or information and to determine whether the outdoor advertising device is being operated in violation of §§ 54-21-103 and 54-21-104 and therefore subject to enforcement action under this section.
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