Franklin County, NC Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Political signs sit among the Unified Development Code's list of exempt signs in § 8.3.6, the same section that also exempts building markers, special event banners, and real estate signs from Franklin County's sign permit requirement. Unlike those other exempt categories, which carry the county's own size and duration limits (real estate signs, for example, are capped at 6 square feet and must come down within 7 days of a sale), the county chose not to write its own numeric standard for political signs. Item I states only that political signs must meet the requirements of G.S. § 136-32, Regulation of Signs, meaning the county has adopted the state statute by reference rather than layering a local rule on top of it.

Because political signs are exempt under § 8.3.6, no sign permit or fee is required from Planning and Inspections to post one on private property in the unincorporated area, and the sign is not counted toward a property's overall permitted sign area under § 8.3.1. The practical effect for a resident or campaign in unincorporated Franklin County is that the county itself imposes no separate size cap, no separate placement setback, and no separate removal deadline for political signs. Signs placed within a public right-of-way or a required sight triangle, however, remain subject to the county's general prohibitions in § 8.3.5(F) and § 8.3.5(J), which bar any sign, political or otherwise, from obstructing a sight triangle or extending into a state-maintained road right-of-way without authorization.