FRANKLIN, Ind. (WISH) — A billboard along I-65 in Johnson County is carrying a message that’s not meant for everyday drivers. Instead, it’s directed at people coming from outside the county to commit crimes.

“Now, there are folks that come to Johnson County, and they want to buy a house, they want to work here, and they are entirely welcome,” said Lance Hamner, a prosecuting attorney for Johnson County. But, if you are coming down here to porch pirate our people, steal, break into their homes, deal drugs, turn around, because there is going to be hell to pay.”

If you’re heading south on Interstate 65, just as you cross from Marion County into Johnson County, you can’t miss it. A digital billboard flashes a warning: “Attention criminals: Cross this line, you’ll do more time.” It’s paired with the faces of Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner and Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess.

The 14-by-48-foot sign costs about $4,000 to keep on display for a month, according to Lamar Advertising, but Hamner said that criminals are the ones footing the bill through plea deal diversion funds.

“I think it’s really appropriate that the criminals who pay into that diversion fund are the ones who are paying to deter them from coming back,” Hamner said. “I think it’s entirely appropriate. That way, it’s not a burden on the taxpayers.”

The billboard rotates every eight seconds, with an estimated 130,000 drivers seeing it each week. As a prosecutor in Johnson County for over two decades, Hamner said his office has noticed a rise in crime committed by people outside the county —some from Indianapolis —and he wants the message to be clear: Johnson County will prosecute.

“I have talked to so many police officers who say when they arrest someone close to the county line, they always want to know which side they are on,” Hamner said. “Well, that billboard says, ‘This is the line, cross it and here’s where you are going to do more time.’”

Hamner hopes other counties might follow their lead.

“The public looks at it as if we have a prosecutor and a sheriff who are really trying to protect us from criminals,” Hamner said. “That’s really the only reason why we have a criminal justice system: To stop the people who are unwilling to work for a living, who want to prey on other people and try to take what they’ve earned, and try to keep them from being able to do that. That’s what the public wants us for.”

News 8 reached out to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, but they declined to comment.

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