Dougherty County, GA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 2-13.3-31(b)(7)
- Permit
- No-charge permit required
- Enforcing agencies
- Building official, county police, sheriff
- Fine range
- $100 to $1,000 per offense
- Duration limit
- None stated for holiday lights
Summary
In unincorporated Dougherty County, holiday lights and decorations are classified as an exempt sign under the county sign ordinance, but the exemption still requires securing a no-charge permit from the building official. The ordinance sets no separate display-duration limit on holiday lighting itself, unlike the ninety-day and one-year conformance windows the same article imposes on other temporary and nonconforming signs.
(b)Exempt signs. Except as otherwise provided, the following on-site signs are exempt from the provisions of this article and may be erected as follows after securing a no-charge permit, subject, however, to meeting all other applicable codes and regulations: ... (7)Holiday lights and decorations.
Full Breakdown
3-31(b) of the Dougherty County Code lists the on-site signs exempt from the substantive standards of the sign article, and item (7) names "Holiday lights and decorations" among them. 3-25(b)(5) whenever a display is wired for power. 3-32(b), it is not subject to the sixty-, ninety-, or one-year removal windows the article applies to portable signs, banners, or nonconforming permanent signs elsewhere in the same chapter. The Albany-Dougherty Planning and Development Services building official administers the permit and enforces the article. 3-33: the building official, Dougherty County Police Department officers, and Dougherty County Sheriff's Department deputies may all issue citations, tried in the county's court system with or without a prosecuting attorney. 3-33(e) treats each day a violation continues as a separate offense.
Violations & Fines
Displaying holiday lights without the required no-charge permit, or leaving an electrically wired display up without the separate electrical permit required by Section 2-13.3-25(b)(5), exposes the property owner to enforcement under Sections 2-13.3-33 and 2-13.3-34. Conviction carries a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars, and each day the violation continues is a separate offense under Section 2-13.3-33(e).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to put up holiday lights in unincorporated Dougherty County?
How long can I leave my holiday lights up?
What happens if I never get the no-charge permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Dougherty County
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