# "Posted": Why do signs say this?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 9, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290 "2012-04-09T19:20:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/1 "2012-04-09T19:20:38Z")
I was driving home today and saw something I’ve wondered about for awhile: a sign that read:
**POSTED
No Trespassing**
_**(some small print I couldn’t read from the car)**_
I’ve seen signs like this before. What’s up with the word “POSTED” on the sign? Isn’t it obvious that if it’s there nailed to a signpost or stuck to the side of a building, it’s posted? Is there some legal requirement that you have to add this?
Just curious.
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/2 "2012-04-09T19:22:58Z")
It means they’re not fucking around.
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### Author:  [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/3 "2012-04-09T19:27:11Z")
The sign isn’t posted, the land is posted. It means it’s privately owned, so you can’t hunt, fish, or otherwise trespass there.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/4 "2012-04-09T19:42:42Z")
At [1d of this definition of the verb](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/post)
> [@](#):
>
> d : to forbid (property) to trespassers under penalty of legal prosecution by notices placed along the boundaries
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### Author:  [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/5 "2012-04-09T19:56:08Z")
It sounds as if the words “no trespassing” are neither necessary nor sufficient, legally, but are instead just a translation into plain language of the legal term “Posted”. Is that correct?
Would a sign simply stating “POSTED” have the same legal significance? Or is there more than one variety of “posting” such that a more specific description is required?
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/6 "2012-04-09T20:06:44Z")
OK, explain [this one](http://www.themuslimtimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/throwing-stones-v11.jpg) then!
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/7 "2012-04-09T20:13:14Z")
I think “posted” is added to no trespassing signs for legal purposes. Such signs must be posted to be binding, and adding the word ensures there is no misunderstanding. (The signs, obviously, must be placed at conspicuous places and not, for example, under a rock.)
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### Author:  [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/8 "2012-04-09T20:13:39Z")
> [@brad\_d](#):
>
> Would a sign simply stating “POSTED” have the same legal significance? Or is there more than one variety of “posting” such that a more specific description is required?
The latter, I believe.
As I recall, where/when I grew up (New Jersey in the sixties) the POSTED - NO HUNTING signs had to be no more than a specified distance apart (and it was a ridiculously small distance) or hunters could claim that they didn’t see one when they entered the property.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/9 "2012-04-09T20:14:43Z")
> [@njtt](#):
>
> OK, explain [this one](http://www.themuslimtimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/throwing-stones-v11.jpg) then!
I agree, the word “notice” really doesn’t need to be there.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/10 "2012-04-09T20:15:38Z")
> [@njtt](#):
>
> OK, explain [this one](http://www.themuslimtimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/throwing-stones-v11.jpg) then!
It means you can shoot it. Yee-haw!!!
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### Author:  [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/11 "2012-04-09T21:26:14Z")
The small print is generally a citing of the local ordinance under which the trespass is illegal. Posting the land eliminates any question of illegal trespass and defines the area.
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/12 "2012-04-09T22:08:25Z")
Ah, okay, thanks. I had no idea that the “posted” referred to the land and didn’t just mean “Hey, I’m posting this sign.”
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### Author:  [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/13 "2012-04-09T22:13:20Z")
> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> I think “posted” is added to no trespassing signs for legal purposes. Such signs must be posted to be binding, and adding the word ensures there is no misunderstanding. (The signs, obviously, must be placed at conspicuous places and not, for example, under a rock.)
We were taught in a small rural grade school that the language had something to do with legalities. Too long, I cannot recall anymore about it.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/14 "2012-04-09T22:32:49Z")
Note that the posting can specify what forms of trespass are prohibited, as for example ‘POSTED / No Hunting or Fishing’ where people may use the land for nature walks, etc., but the owner does not want hunters or fishermen using his land.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/15 "2012-04-10T00:27:14Z")
A sign that used to be common around here read, “IF YOUR LAND IS POSTED, KEEP THE HELL OFF OF MINE”. (Caps included)
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/16 "2012-04-10T00:40:46Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#):
>
> The sign isn’t posted, the land is posted. It means it’s privately owned, so you can’t hunt, fish, or otherwise trespass there.
This is sort of it. “Legally posted” means the tract of land complies with the applicable requirements under the local trespass signage law.
For example, in Florida, “posted” land is:
> [@](#):
>
> …land upon which signs are placed not more than 500 feet apart along, and at each corner of, the boundaries of the land, upon which signs there appears prominently, in letters of not less than 2 inches in height, the words “no trespassing” and in addition thereto the name of the owner, lessee, or occupant of said land. Said signs shall be placed along the boundary line of posted land in a manner and in such position as to be clearly noticeable from outside the boundary line.
>
> Lewis v. State, 932 So. 2d 357, 358 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)
Under normal circumstances, you cannot be prosecuted for trespass unless you refuse the property owner’s order to leave.
If land is posted, unauthorized entry becomes _prima facie_ evidence that the intruder intended to trespass. In other words, you can be prosecuted simply for being on the land; the signage is notice that you do not have license to enter the property and substitutes for the property owner’s instruction.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/17 "2012-04-10T03:30:22Z")
In Missouri, and many other states, you no longer have to post signage. All you have to do is paint [purple paint](http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C500-599/5690000145.HTM) on trees or fence posts along the property edge.
Makes it harder for vandals to remove or deface the signs.
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2012, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/18 "2012-04-10T09:11:50Z")
There’s a sign on a tract of land in my neighborhood. This tract has a driveway leading up to a hill. You cannot see what is on that land unless you trespass and go up the hill, but there’s a sign at the entrance: “No trespassing. Violaters will be shot.” (We have a very liberal “castle” law here.)
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posted-why-do-signs-say-this/618290/19 "2012-04-10T13:31:55Z")
And spelling. 😉