Campbell County, KY Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- General rule
- Flashing/intermittent-light signs banned in every zone
- Digital sign exception
- Electronic message board or display screen
- Minimum change cycle
- Not less than 5 seconds
- Alternative allowed format
- Steady scrolling message across the screen
- Safety check
- Planning Commission traffic-hazard determination
- Permit required
- Sign permit under § 154.188 before erection
Summary
Campbell County bans flashing or intermittent-light signs countywide, but carves out changeable electronic message boards and digital display screens under § 154.186(M): they're allowed if messages change no faster than every five seconds, or scroll steadily, and the Planning Commission finds no traffic-safety hazard.
No sign shall be erected, maintained, or continued displaying flashing, or intermittent lights, or lights of changing degrees or intensity except a sign with a changeable electronic message board or electronic display screen, with changes alternating on not less than a five-second cycle or with messages scrolling steadily across the screen when such sign does not constitute a public safety or traffic hazard, in the judgement of the Planning Commission.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-50: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. O-09-2026, passed 8-5-26; and Res. R-42-26, passed 7-15-26; and State legislation current through KRS Pamphlet 2025).
Full Breakdown
186, the general rules chapter for all signs in every zoning district, opens with a blanket ban on flashing, intermittent, or variable-intensity lighting. Subsection (M) then carves out one exception for digital technology: a sign with a changeable electronic message board or electronic display screen is allowed if its message changes on a cycle of not less than five seconds, or if the message scrolls steadily across the screen, and only if the Planning and Zoning Commission judges that the sign will not create a public safety or traffic hazard.
186(E), which lets the Commission order down any sign that disturbs surrounding properties through light, glare, animation, or flashing. 190. 193. 098, listing manufacturing of animated or illuminated billboards as a permitted industrial use in the I-1 zone, a use classification, not a sign-display standard.
Violations & Fines
An electronic sign that changes messages faster than every five seconds, that doesn't scroll steadily, or that the Planning and Zoning Commission determines is a traffic hazard is treated as a nuisance sign under § 154.186(E). The Zoning Administrator can order the owner to remove or correct it, billing the removal cost to the owner or agent; failing to comply is a Chapter 154 violation, a Class B misdemeanor under § 154.999 with each day a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put up a digital billboard along a Campbell County road?
How fast can the message on an electronic sign change?
Does Campbell County require a permit for an electronic sign?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Campbell County
Compare Campbell County to another location·View the Kentucky sign regulations overview
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