<p>In this paper, we propose an eigenstructure assignment approach for static output feedback control design of second-order linear systems. First, for the static output feedback (SOF) case, the eigenvalue assignment problem is translated into that of solving coupled-Sylvester equations, resulting in a set of bilinear matrix equalities, involving the corresponding left and right eigenvectors. These equalities are used as constraints of bilinear programming problems, for which different cost functions are proposed, representing the numerical conditioning of the solution and sensitivity functions, which serve as a measure of the robustness of the assigned eigenvalues against uncertainties in the system’s parameters. The method is extended to the design of a second-order dynamic output feedback compensator with a suitable number of degrees of freedom for cases where either arbitrary eigenvalue assignment under SOF is not possible or no degrees of freedom are left for the choice of the control gains. Numerical examples using three benchmarks are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.</p>