Tampa, FL Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Section 2-602 of the Tampa Code, titled "Political signs; prohibited on public property," sets three rules. First, subsection (a) makes it unlawful for any person to erect, place, or install a political sign or advertisement on public property anywhere in the city: there is no permit path around this; the placement itself is the violation. Second, subsection (b) puts enforcement in the hands of "the appropriate department of the city, as designated by the mayor," which removes any sign that does not conform. The same subsection goes further for roadway placements: a political sign or advertisement left on a roadway in violation of the section is "hereby declared to be abandoned property," meaning any private person may take it down themselves, so long as the removal is done "in a safe and peaceful manner" and does not endanger anyone traveling the roadway.

6(a)(10), as amended, all political campaign signs must be removed within thirty (30) days after the election the sign references, regardless of where they were lawfully placed. The section traces to Ord. No. 2003-255, adopted October 2, 2003, and sits in Division 6 (Campaign Ethics) of Article VIII, the City of Tampa Ethics Code, alongside the city's broader rules on political activity by officers and employees. Because Sec. 2-602 does not carry its own penalty clause, enforcement falls back to the Code's general penalty provision.