Yellowstone County, MT Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 27-1409 of the Yellowstone County Zoning Code governs every billboard the Board of County Commissioners permits outside the city limits of Billings and Laurel. Within the Interstate Corridor, defined as the land 660 feet on either side of the Interstate Highway right-of-way, billboards are allowed only on land zoned C3, CX, I1, or I2, capped at 600 square feet in size and no more than 40 feet in height, and each billboard must be separated from the next by at least 500 feet. 22 sets separate height, size, and minimum-separation limits by zone district (C3, CX, I1, and I2), each with its own maximum height and spacing requirement.

For digital displays, Section 27-1409(C)(2) allows an electronic message display (EMD) to be used on a billboard sign face, but only if it conforms to all standards of the county sign code, including the limitation on replacement of nonconforming off-premises billboard sign faces under Section 27-1403 and the maintenance and repair requirements of Section 27-1410. Unlike an EMD on an ordinary wall or freestanding sign, which under Section 27-1405(C)(3) cannot exceed 40 percent of the permanent graphic sign area, a billboard EMD does not need to be incorporated into a freestanding or wall sign structure at all: the electronic display can be the entire sign area on the billboard face.

C: automatic dimming tied to ambient light, no audio, pyrotechnics, or bluetooth advertising components, and, where used for static messages on a billboard face specifically, each message must display for a minimum of six seconds per Section 27-1405(C)(5)(e), double the three-second minimum required for on-premises EMDs.