A. A person who commits or causes to be committed any of the following acts is guilty of a petty offense:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 28-7053

  • Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Department: means the department of transportation acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents. See Arizona Laws 28-101
  • Director: means the director of the department of transportation. See Arizona Laws 28-101
  • highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way if a part of the way is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Arizona Laws 28-101
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Petty offense: A federal misdemeanor punishable by six months or less in prison. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Right-of-way: when used within the context of the regulation of the movement of traffic on a highway means the privilege of the immediate use of the highway. See Arizona Laws 28-101
  • State: means a state of the United States and the District of Columbia. See Arizona Laws 28-101
  • State highway: means a state route or portion of a state route that is accepted and designated by the board as a state highway and that is maintained by the state. See Arizona Laws 28-101
  • Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215

1. Places or maintains an encroachment or obstruction on, makes any use of or otherwise occupies a public highway or airport of this state or any of its political subdivisions for any purpose other than for authorized public travel, communication, transportation or transmission, except as otherwise provided in this section.

2. Places or maintains an encroachment or obstruction on, uses, occupies, damages or otherwise interferes with a public highway, airport or public bridge, causeway, viaduct, trestle or dam, unless either:

(a) Authorized by the director, if it is a state highway or structure or airport facility.

(b) Authorized by the governing body of the political subdivision in which the act is committed, if it is not a state highway or structure or airport facility.

3. Knowingly molests or destroys any part, projection, structure, appurtenance or accessory of a public highway or airport or destroys or otherwise interferes with a drainage ditch constructed for the protection of a public highway or airport or a dike, ditch, levee or jetty or an embankment appurtenant to a drainage ditch constructed for the protection of a public highway or airport.

4. Knowingly destroys or interferes with a ford, dip, culvert or crossing of a creek, gulch, river or stream by digging away the banks or by damming, deepening or widening a creek, gulch, river or stream to divert waters on the public highway or airport or to cause injury or damage to the public highway or airport by flooding or otherwise.

5. Knowingly places or maintains a vehicle, aircraft or structure parked or placed wholly or partly within a public highway, runway or taxiway specifically for the purpose of selling the vehicle, aircraft or structure or of selling or specifically advertising the sale of, at any location, an article, service or thing.

6. Knowingly stores, services, repairs or otherwise works on a vehicle wholly or partly within a highway other than on a vehicle that is temporarily disabled.

7. Knowingly removes, damages or destroys a tree or shrub standing on a highway right-of-way.

8. Knowingly obstructs or injures a public highway, runway or taxiway by causing or permitting flow or seepage of water under the person’s control to escape onto the highway, runway or taxiway.

B. Each day of violation of any provision of subsection A of this section is a separate violation on failure to remove or to diligently prosecute the removal of an encroachment after notice under section 28-7054. Each encroachment shall be treated as a separate violation.

C. In addition to the penalties prescribed by this section, an act in violation of this section is a public nuisance and may be abated by an injunction. A person who commits the act is subject to an action for damages by this state brought by the attorney general or the county attorney of the county in which the act is committed on direction of the attorney general.

D. This section does not apply to:

1. Department personnel or agents performing normal construction and maintenance functions.

2. A person who has prior authorization in writing from the director to perform any of the acts referred to in this section.

E. For the purposes of this section, "encroachment" includes a structure or object of any kind or character that is placed in, under or over a portion of the public highway or airport.

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