Rock Island County, IL Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

641(A). The section states that temporary signs pertaining to the candidacy of federal, state, and local elected officials, or other voting issues, may be erected, and it sets a size ceiling that depends on zoning: six square feet per face in residential zoning districts, and 32 square feet per face in other zoning districts (the county's business and industrial districts). The timing window is fixed rather than discretionary: signs may go up no more than 30 days preceding the election and must be removed within three days after the election, with no distinction drawn between primary and general elections in the text.

Erection standards for all temporary signs, including political signs, are set out in division (B) of the same section: every temporary sign must be attached to a wall or pole with steel cables, bolts, or other suitable fastenings, or firmly affixed into the ground so as to prevent movement, meaning a sign that simply leans against a structure or sits loose on the ground does not meet the code's erection standard regardless of its size. Because political signs fall under the temporary-sign subchapter rather than the permit-based freestanding or attached sign rules, the code does not require a separate sign permit for a compliant residential or business-district political sign, but the size and removal-timing limits still apply uniformly across the unincorporated county. This provision governs only unincorporated Rock Island County; the city of Rock Island sets its own political-sign rules for land inside city limits.