Riverside County, CA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Political and other non-commercial signs in the unincorporated area of Riverside County are regulated as "temporary signs" under Ordinance No. 806, codified in Title 17, Chapter 17.254. A temporary sign is one not intended to be permanent and not on a permanent foundation; the category expressly includes non-commercial signs, including non-commercial signs during an election period. During the election period - generally beginning before a scheduled election and ending shortly after - the ordinance allows expanded non-commercial signage: each sign may be up to 32 square feet in surface area, no sign may exceed 6 feet in height, and no lot may contain such signs with an aggregate surface area exceeding 80 square feet (Sec. 3(D)(1)). Outside an election period, the general rule (Sec. 3(A)(2)) prohibits placing temporary signs within the road right-of-way; the election-period provision is an exception that permits non-commercial signs in the right-of-way, but they may not be placed on any publicly owned tree or shrub or on the improved (traveled) portion of any street. Signs must be removed within 10 days after the election (Sec. 3(D)(1)). Separately, California's Outdoor Advertising Act (Bus. & Prof. Code 5405.3) limits temporary political signs along state highways: no larger than 32 sq ft, placed no sooner than 90 days before the election, removed within 10 days after, and never within a highway right-of-way or within 660 feet of a classified landscaped freeway.