Texas Campaign Sign Rules: Where Houston Candidates Can Legally Place Yard Signs

Every election season, thousands of campaign signs go up across Harris County, and a large share of them are in the wrong place. The rules are not complicated, but they are strict, and a sign in the wrong spot can be confiscated the same day with no warning. This guide walks Houston candidates, block walkers, and volunteers through the Texas campaign sign rules that actually matter: where you can place a sign, how big it can be, what a homeowners association can and cannot stop, and the exact wording your sign is required to carry.

The short version is simple. Put signs on private property with the owner’s permission, keep them out of the public right-of-way, respect a few size limits, and print the required disclosure. Get those four things right and your signs stay up. Get the first one wrong and they end up in a county truck.

Key Takeaways

• A person may not place a sign on the right-of-way of a public road in Texas, and doing it is a Class C misdemeanor. Esplanades, medians, and the strip between the sidewalk and the curb are all right-of-way.
• On private property with the owner’s consent, a Texas city cannot require a permit or regulate your political sign unless it is larger than 36 square feet, taller than 8 feet, illuminated, or has moving parts.
• A homeowners association cannot ban your political sign from the 90th day before an election through the 10th day after, though it can cap the size at four feet by six feet and require it to be ground-mounted.
• Every campaign sign needs a disclosure statement: the words “political advertising” (or an abbreviation) and the full name of whoever paid for it.

The one rule that gets Houston signs confiscated: stay out of the right-of-way

Under Texas Transportation Code Section 393.002, “a person may not place a sign on the right-of-way of a public road unless the placement of the sign is authorized by state law.” (Texas Transportation Code Sec. 393.002) There is no political exception. A candidate’s sign in the right-of-way is treated the same as any other illegal roadside sign.

This is the rule that catches most campaigns off guard, because the right-of-way is bigger than people think. It includes highway shoulders, esplanades and medians, the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street, and the area around utility poles and traffic signals. Placing a sign there is a Class C misdemeanor, and crews from the Texas Department of Transportation or the county can pull the sign immediately without giving you notice first. (City of Houston, Texas Transportation Code guidance)

So before a volunteer plants a stake, ask one question: who owns this ground? If the answer is the city, the county, or the state, the sign does not belong there. If a neighbor owns it and says yes, you are on solid footing.

Where you can legally place a campaign sign in Texas: private property, with permission

The safe home for a campaign sign is private property with the owner’s consent, and Texas law protects that placement generously. A political subdivision cannot require a permit for or otherwise regulate a political sign on a person’s private real property with the owner’s consent unless the sign “has an effective area greater than 36 [square] feet,” “is more than eight feet high,” “is illuminated,” or “has any moving elements.” (Texas Election Code Sec. 259.003)

For a normal yard sign, that is a wide lane. A standard 18-by-24-inch or 24-by-18-inch coroplast sign is a fraction of a single square foot over 36, so it clears the size test with room to spare. You do not need a city permit, and a Houston homeowner can post as many as the yard holds as long as each one stays under those thresholds. The practical takeaways are to keep signs unlit, keep them static, and mount them at a normal yard height.

This is also why door-to-door permission still matters. The law protects signs on private property with consent, so a quick yes from the homeowner is what converts a good corner into a legal one. Businesses count too. A supportive shop owner can host a sign in the storefront window or on the building’s own lawn under the same private-property rule.

Campaign signs and HOAs: the 90-day window Texas law protects

If your supporters live in a deed-restricted neighborhood, the homeowners association cannot simply ban their signs. Texas Property Code Section 202.009 says a property owners’ association may not enforce a restrictive covenant that prohibits a homeowner from displaying a political sign on their own property on or after the 90th day before the election through the 10th day after it. (Texas Property Code Sec. 202.009)

The trade-off is that an association can still set reasonable limits inside that window. It may cap each sign at four feet by six feet, allow only one sign per candidate or ballot measure, require signs to be ground-mounted, and prohibit add-ons like balloons, lights, streamers, or anything that makes sound. Those limits are more restrictive than the general 36-square-foot city rule, so when a sign will sit in an HOA-governed yard, size it for the four-by-six ceiling and keep it plain.

The dates are the part campaigns forget. Signs can go up as early as 90 days before the election, and they need to come down within 10 days after. Build that removal date into your field plan now, because an association can act on late signs once the window closes.

Every campaign sign needs a disclosure: what Texas requires you to print

A campaign sign is political advertising, and political advertising in Texas has to say who paid for it. The Texas Ethics Commission requires a disclosure statement that includes the words “political advertising” (or a recognizable abbreviation) and the full name of the person who paid for it. (Texas Ethics Commission, Political Advertising: What You Need to Know) On a yard sign, a small line such as “Pol. adv. paid for by the [Candidate] Campaign” satisfies it.

The small-item exemption does not rescue you here. The Ethics Commission excuses tiny giveaways like t-shirts, buttons, pens, and balloons from carrying the statement, but a printed sign is not a small item, so the disclosure has to be on the artwork. Build it into the design before you print, not after.

There is a second line worth adding. Because a campaign sign is meant to be seen from a road, the Ethics Commission’s guidance points to the right-of-way notice that reads, “This sign is not permitted in the right-of-way of a highway.” Printing that reminder near the disclosure keeps your own volunteers honest about the rule that gets signs confiscated in the first place.

Sizing and materials that keep signs compliant and standing

The material most Houston campaigns choose is coroplast, and it maps cleanly onto the rules above. Coroplast is corrugated plastic: lightweight, weatherproof, and cheap enough to blanket a district, which is why it is the default for campaign and yard signs. Standard sizes such as 18-by-24 and 24-by-18 inches sit far under the 36-square-foot city limit and the four-by-six HOA cap, so a single stock size keeps you legal in almost every yard in town.

A few production choices make the difference between signs that work and signs that disappear. Order double-sided printing so drivers read your name from both directions. Add wire H-stakes rated for the sign size so a Gulf Coast thunderstorm does not lay your whole route flat overnight. And leave room in the layout for the disclosure line, since a design that ignores it has to be reprinted. Houston Sign Company has produced campaign signs and political yard signs for local races since 1946, and the same coroplast and stake specs used for real estate signs and other exterior signage carry straight over to a campaign run.

When you are ready to print, order campaign yard signs here and pick the double-sided coroplast build with wire stakes.

A pre-election checklist for Houston campaigns

Run this list before your first sign goes into the ground:

• Confirm every placement is on private property with the owner’s spoken or written consent. If it is city, county, or state land, move it.
• Keep each sign under 36 square feet and 8 feet tall, unlit, with no moving parts, so no Houston permit is triggered.
• For HOA yards, size signs to four feet by six feet or smaller, one per candidate, ground-mounted, with no balloons or lights.
• Print the disclosure statement (“political advertising” plus who paid) on the sign before it goes to production.
• Note the calendar: HOA signs can go up 90 days out and must come down within 10 days after the election.
• Order double-sided coroplast with wire stakes so signs read both ways and survive Gulf Coast weather.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I put a campaign sign in a Houston esplanade or median?
No. Esplanades, medians, and the strip between the sidewalk and the curb are public right-of-way, and Texas Transportation Code Section 393.002 bars signs there. Crews can remove them the same day, and placement is a Class C misdemeanor.

How close to the election can I put up signs on private property?
Texas law does not set a statewide calendar for signs on your own private property. The 90-day-before and 10-day-after window is specifically the protection Property Code Section 202.009 gives homeowners against a homeowners association, so it governs deed-restricted neighborhoods rather than every yard.

What size campaign sign can I use without a city permit?
On private property with the owner’s consent, a Texas city cannot require a permit unless the sign is larger than 36 square feet, taller than 8 feet, illuminated, or has moving parts. Standard 18-by-24-inch coroplast signs are well inside those limits.

Does my campaign sign need to say who paid for it?
Yes. The Texas Ethics Commission requires the words “political advertising” (or an abbreviation) and the full name of the person who paid for the sign. Only small items like buttons and pens are exempt.

When do I have to take my signs down?
In an HOA-governed neighborhood, signs must come down within 10 days after the election. Signs placed illegally in the right-of-way can be removed by authorities at any time.

Getting the placement right is most of the battle, and the sign itself is the easy part. When your route is mapped and your disclosure is set, order campaign and yard signs from Houston Sign Company and get durable, double-sided coroplast built to stand through Election Day.