McLean County, IL Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Article X of the McLean County Zoning Code classifies a political sign at § 350-75A(9) as any sign relating to a candidate, political party, election or other issue. Section 350-77A then lists political signs as item (11) among the sign types granted a total exemption from Article X's permit requirement, alongside real estate, construction, memorial, and household-goods sale signs. Unlike real estate signs, which § 350-77A(9) caps at 32 square feet, or household-goods sale signs, which § 350-77A(8) limits to six days a year, the political-sign exemption at A(11) carries no separate size or duration limit written into the text.

That exemption is not unconditional, though. The § 350-77A preamble requires every totally exempt sign, political signs included, to comply with the setback requirements set for its zoning district elsewhere in the chapter, and it forbids illumination on exempt signs outright, permitting only an unlit beaded-reflector face with prior approval from the Director of Building and Zoning. The general placement standards of § 350-76 also reach political signs: none may sit in a street sight triangle, be attached to a utility pole or tree, or be positioned so as to obstruct a fire escape, window or emergency exit. This exemption governs only unincorporated McLean County; Bloomington and Normal apply their own municipal sign codes to political signs posted inside city limits.