Jefferson County, WI Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Jefferson County Code § 22-712 governs political signs in unincorporated Jefferson County. Signs cannot be placed within the right-of-way lines of any road or highway and cannot be attached to an official highway marker, emblem or traffic control sign or device. Any political sign larger than four square feet is barred from the vision clearance triangle at intersections, and a sign located within that triangle cannot exceed three feet in height above the mean centerline grade of the adjacent roadway. Timing is tied to the election cycle: a sign cannot go up before the first day nomination papers may circulate for the general election, the first day a referendum is scheduled, or the first day a recall election is scheduled, depending on which vote the sign concerns.

Every political sign must come down no later than 15 days after the election it was posted for. Political signs are exempt from the county's general sign permit requirement under § 22-703(c)(1), and they are a permitted use in all zoning districts under § 22-712(e). The county zoning administrator enforces removal: under § 22-712(d), a sign that violates the location requirements is ordered removed by the zoning administrator, and the owner has up to ten days to reclaim it before the county disposes of it.