Haltom City Sign Regulations: Political Signs Rules (2026)

Political signs in Haltom City are protected by overlapping First Amendment, federal, state, and local rules. Under Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) the city cannot regulate signs based on message content, so ideological, political, and other noncommercial speech signs are generally subject to the same size and placement rules as noncommercial messages. On residential property, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994) protects the right to display signs from the home. Under Texas Property Code 202.009, property owners associations (HOAs) may not prohibit political signs on a property owner's lot but may impose reasonable restrictions such as limiting signs to ground-mounted placement on the property, capping size at 4 square feet, and limiting display to the period from 90 days before an election to 10 days after. Haltom City's sign ordinance allows temporary noncommercial signs in residential zones without a permit within reasonable size limits, commonly 6 to 8 square feet in residential areas. Signs must be placed on private property with owner permission, not in public rights-of-way (the area between the sidewalk and the street), and not attached to utility poles, traffic signs, or trees. Violations of right-of-way rules can result in sign removal by Public Works without prior notice and fines up to 500 dollars per violation. In commercial districts, political signs are subject to the general sign ordinance including size caps (often 32 square feet for freestanding) and setbacks. Signs cannot obstruct sight triangles at driveways or intersections per the Texas MUTCD and city code. Temporary election signs in rights-of-way adjacent to state highways fall under TxDOT rules. Display duration is typically limited to 60 to 90 days before an election and 10 days after by city ordinance, though 202.009 supersedes stricter HOA rules. Any sign on a resident's property must identify the candidate or measure; false or defamatory political advertising is regulated by the Texas Election Code Chapter 255.