Lamar OCI South Corp. Sues City

This past week the city of Oxford was sued (in both the federal and local courts) by Lamar OCI South Corp. in the company’s efforts to keep their billboards in their current locations. The lawsuits stemmed from a 2004 modification on their sign ordinance. The ordinance limits the current billboards to only “industrial-zoned” areas.

Lamar is noted in court documents as having ownership over 18 billboards in Oxford, Mississippi. The company states in their suit in federal court that the city went against the agency’s First Amendment right to freedom of commercial speech. If the city wins the initial suit in the federal court an additional suit has been made in an effort to ensure that they receive some sort of monetary compensation.

The city’s defense is that they have a right to control the number and dimensions of billboards within the city of Oxford. The court has yet to make a decision on the cases.