Lincoln County, SD Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Lincoln County's off-premises sign rules in County Code §§ 154.335 through 154.339 normally cap billboard size at 288 square feet in the C, I-1, and I-2 Districts, require conditional use review above that, and impose spacing and illumination standards enforced by the Office of Planning and Zoning. Section 154.338 lists three narrow exceptions that fall outside those standard rules: nonprofit directional signs up to four square feet, government-authorized directional and street name signs, and, under § 154.338(B), political campaign signs. The exception frees a campaign sign from the size, height, and spacing limits that would otherwise apply to an off-premises sign, but it comes with one hard condition: the sign must be removed within five days after the election.

There is no separate exemption for political signs on a candidate's own property under the on-premises sign rules in §§ 154.315 through 154.323, so a yard sign posted on private land in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota is governed by whichever on-premises sign standard applies to that district, such as the size and height limits in § 154.316 or the temporary and portable sign allowance of 32 square feet for 60 days in § 154.321 in the commercial and industrial districts. A political sign left standing past the five-day post-election deadline loses its § 154.338(B) exception and becomes an unpermitted off-premises sign, exposing the person responsible to the zoning penalty in § 154.999.