KKK wants to adopt a Georgia highway

(CBS/AP) BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. - A Ku Klux Klan group wants to join Georgia's "Adopt-A-Highway" program for litter removal, which could force state officials to make difficult decisions on the application.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that state officials could be forced to choose between approving the request, denying it and facing a likely legal fight, or ending the state's 23-year-old Adopt-A-Highway program.

The program features road signs for groups who volunteer to help beautify state highways.

At issue is an application filed by International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Union County involving a one-mile stretch of Ga. 515 in the Appalachian Mountains.

According to the Georgia DOT website, "any civic-minded organization, business, individual, family, city, county, state, or federal agency" may volunteer to participate in the program.

During fiscal year 2011, 173 active organizations (primarily civic groups and businesses) participated in the program, covering 200 miles of Georgia roads.

The state's Department of Transportation is reviewing the request. State officials plan to meet with lawyers from the state Attorney General's Office on Monday to decide how to proceed.