Florida Political Sign Rules: Placement, HOAs, and Penalties

Florida political sign rules let you display campaign signs on your own property, but state law requires each sign to carry a disclaimer, bans signs from public rights-of-way, and sets a 30-day deadline to take them down after the election. Local ordinances add their own limits on size, height, number, and setback, and HOA covenants can restrict signs further. Get any of these wrong and your signs can be removed at your expense, with the bill going to the candidate.

Every Political Sign Needs a Disclaimer

This is the rule most people miss. Florida law requires every political sign to identify who paid for it. If a candidate paid, the sign must read either “Political advertisement paid for and approved by [candidate name], [party], for [office]” or the shorter “Paid by [candidate name], [party], for [office].”¹ If someone other than a candidate paid for it, the sign must say “paid political advertisement” and include the name and address of whoever funded it.

There is no size exemption for yard signs. A small 18-by-24-inch sign in your front lawn needs the disclaimer just as much as a billboard does. The only exemptions cover novelty items worth less than $10 that support a candidate, such as buttons or stickers, and items designed to be worn like t-shirts and hats.¹ If you make homemade signs for a candidate, keep the disclaimer legible and prominent. A sign missing this language puts the candidate at legal risk, not just the person who planted it.

Where You Can Place Signs

Political signs on private land receive strong free-speech protection. Local governments in Florida cannot ban them outright from residential yards or commercial lots. They can regulate the physical details: how large, how tall, how many, and how far from the property line.

Public property is a different story. Florida law specifically prohibits political campaign advertisements on or above any state or county road right-of-way.² The right-of-way extends well beyond the paved road. It includes shoulders, sidewalks, medians, and the grassy utility strip between the sidewalk and the curb. That strip in front of your house almost certainly belongs to the city or county, not to you.

Signs attached to utility poles, street signs, traffic signal poles, or bridge overpasses are all violations. FDOT and local authorities can remove them immediately and bill the candidate for the cost of removal.²

Sight Triangles at Corner Lots

Even on private property, signs near intersections can create problems. FDOT maintains clear sight requirements at intersections, defining corridors where objects must not obstruct a driver’s line of sight to approaching traffic.³ If your yard sits at a corner, a large sign inside that triangle of visibility can trigger a removal order from code enforcement, even though the sign is on your land. Place signs well back from the intersection or keep them low enough that drivers can see over them.

Size, Height, and Number Limits

Local ordinances control the physical specifications, and the numbers vary widely from one jurisdiction to the next. Your city or county code sets the maximum square footage, the maximum height, the number of signs allowed per lot, and the setback from the property line. Some codes distinguish between residential and commercial zones, and some cap signs per candidate or per street frontage rather than per property.

One practical shortcut: most standard campaign yard signs are around 4 square feet, and that size clears the residential limits in most Florida jurisdictions. Trouble tends to start with oversized homemade signs, or when someone plants a dozen signs across a single yard in a place that caps the number per lot. Before you stake anything into the ground, look up your local sign ordinance for the exact figures.

Signs in HOA Communities

If you live in a homeowners’ association, the rules shift. Florida law guarantees your right to fly the U.S. flag, the Florida state flag, military branch flags, first responder flags, and POW-MIA flags regardless of what your HOA documents say.⁴ That protection does not extend to political campaign signs or political flags.

Because HOAs are private entities operating under their own covenants, they can restrict or prohibit political signs entirely. Your HOA’s governing documents control here, not the municipal sign ordinance. Some associations ban yard signs outright, some allow them only during a defined window before an election, and some have no restrictions at all. Read your community’s CC&Rs and any architectural guidelines before putting anything up. Florida courts have generally upheld reasonable, consistently enforced restrictions on political signage in HOA communities, and violations can result in association fines.

When Signs Go Up and When They Come Down

Florida state law does not set a statewide rule for how early you can display a political sign before an election. That timing is left entirely to local ordinances. Some municipalities allow signs only within a defined pre-election window; others have no early-display restriction at all. Check your local code before putting signs out months ahead of a race.

The removal deadline is set by state law. Every candidate must make a good-faith effort to take down all political campaign signs within 30 days after withdrawing from the race, losing, or winning the election.² Signs on motor vehicles and wearable items like t-shirts are exempt from this removal requirement.

Thirty days is the ceiling, not the floor. Local governments can impose shorter deadlines, and some require removal within one to two weeks after the election. The statute explicitly allows cities and counties to set more stringent requirements than the state’s 30-day rule.² Miss whatever deadline applies and local authorities can pull the signs and send the bill.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

The consequences depend on which rule you break. For signs left up past the deadline or placed in a right-of-way, the standard enforcement is straightforward: the local government removes the sign and charges the candidate for the actual labor and disposal costs.² Candidates are formally notified of these rules when they qualify for office, so ignorance is not a defense.

Disclaimer violations carry heavier potential consequences. Knowingly and willfully violating the campaign advertisement provisions of Chapter 106 is a first-degree misdemeanor, which can mean up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.⁵ Criminal prosecution over sign disclaimers is rare in practice, but the Florida Elections Commission can investigate complaints and impose civil penalties. The exposure falls mainly on campaigns and candidates, not on individual homeowners who display a candidate-provided sign.

Before You Plant a Sign

Three quick checks keep you clear. Look up your city or county sign ordinance for size, height, number, and setback rules that apply to your zoning. If you live in a managed community, read your HOA’s governing documents and architectural guidelines. And confirm the sign carries the disclaimer language required under state law. Where state and local rules overlap, the stricter one controls. What no local government can do is ban political signs from private property altogether, because that runs into First Amendment protections Florida courts have consistently upheld.

1
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 106.143 – Political Advertisements
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 106.1435 – Usage and Removal of Political Campaign Advertisements
3
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Sight Distance at Intersections – Index 00546
4
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 720.304 – Right of Owners to Peaceably Assemble; Display of Flag; SLAPP Suits Prohibited
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 106.19 – Violations by Candidates, Campaign Managers, and Others