Enforcement of division generally.

(a) Any sign erected or maintained in an adjacent area after February 10, 1972, and any outdoor advertising sign, display, or device erected with the purpose of its message being read from the main-traveled way of any interstate highway or primary highway outside of an urban area and beyond 660 feet of the right-of-way after April 11, 1978, in violation of the provisions of this division or the rules and regulations promulgated under the provisions of this division may be removed by the director upon 30 days' prior notice by certified or registered mail to the owner thereof and to the owner of the land on which said sign is located or through court proceedings at the option of the director. No notice shall be required to be given to the owner of the sign or to a property owner whose name is not stated on the sign or on the structure on which it is displayed or whose address is not stated thereon and is not on file with the director.

(b) The courts of this state shall have jurisdiction, in accordance with the provisions of Sections 6-6-220 through 6-6-232, over actions for declaratory judgment, initiated by the director, the owners of signs or the owners of property on which signs are located, to determine and adjudicate controversies arising under or out of the enforcement of this division and to set forth the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the various parties arising under this division, including decrees of injunction and ordering removal of signs. In addition the courts of this state shall have such injunctive powers as may be necessary to enforce or compel compliance with the provisions of this division in cases filed by the director for injunction in the enforcement of this division, including the power to enjoin the continuing maintenance of any sign erected or maintained in violation of the provisions of this division and the removal of any such signs on complaint filed by the director. Proceedings hereunder being largely equitable in nature, the courts shall set forth the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the parties under this division on the facts presented without intervention of a jury except as may be otherwise provided by statute or the Constitution of Alabama. In the event a sign or signs involved in any proceeding hereunder are found to be maintained, permitted to exist, or erected in violation of any of the provisions of this division, the court trying the cause, on being petitioned by the director, shall order the removal of the sign or signs, subject to Sections 23-1-280, 23-1-281, and 23-1-282, where applicable, by the sign owner or jointly by the sign owner and property owner if joined in the proceeding or separately by the property owner; provided, that the director, acting through personnel of the State Department of Transportation, may remove such signs at the option of the director as provided herein or as ordered by the court. Court costs shall be taxed against a sign owner or property owner on which a sign is located if a court determines that such parties have erected or maintained a sign in violation of this division. Jurisdiction and procedure of courts are not limited by this division.

(c) In any proceeding hereunder in the courts of this state, an allegation or averment setting forth the owner of the real property or the owner of a sign located thereon to be a particular party or parties shall be deemed to establish prima facie ownership of the real property or the sign to be in such party or parties, respectively, unless within 30 days from the service of process upon them, such party or parties file in the proceeding a sworn denial of ownership and, in addition thereto, set forth any interest in and to such real property or sign to which they claim to be entitled. In any proceeding hereunder in the courts, employees of the State Department of Transportation may testify, from general knowledge, that a particular highway is an interstate or primary highway or as to the location of geographical boundaries of urban areas, incorporated municipalities and other zoned areas. In addition to other official maps, maps prepared by the State Department of Transportation as to the location of geographical boundaries of urban areas hereunder shall be received in evidence in aid of establishment of such boundaries when offered on the general knowledge of employees of the State Department of Transportation that such map or maps were prepared by the State Department of Transportation for the purpose of establishing the geographical boundaries of an urban area.

(d) In the event a determination is made by the director that a particular sign or signs have been erected or are being maintained or allowed to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this division, upon written notice to the owner of such sign or signs, such owner of the sign or signs shall have a duty to submit to the director all factual and documentary evidence in his possession, under his control, or reasonably obtainable by such sign owner relating to the date or dates of the erection of the sign or signs, the names of individuals erecting same and all information relating in any manner to the erection of the sign or signs, the names of individuals erecting same and all information relating in any manner to the location thereof which would tend to have a bearing on whether the sign or signs were erected in violation of or are being maintained or allowed to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this division.

All officers and employees of the State Department of Transportation are hereby authorized and empowered to enter upon and go across any land located within the State of Alabama for the purpose of inspection of any sign determined by the director to be in existence in violation of this division or any amendment thereto. Any officer and employee of the State Department of Transportation who, acting lawfully under this division, enters upon or crosses any lands located within this state for the purpose of inspection or removal of any such sign and in and about the activity of inspection or removal of any such sign is hereby vested with full police power to arrest or prefer charges against any person or persons who interferes with the performance of his duty.

(Acts 1971, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 276, p. 4544, §12; Acts 1978, No. 383, p. 347.)