Fence laws in Jonesboro, Arkansas
What the Jonesboro municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Jonesboro sets no rule of its own, the Arkansas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Jonesboro, Arkansas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Jonesboro prints a four line setback list and two of the lines say the setback is not required, and the answer turns on which line the fence follows. The figure is 0 feet, for setback required from an interior side or rear property line.
- How tall
- Fences in Jonesboro may not exceed six feet unless the planning commission approves something taller, which puts the route above the limit in front of a board rather than a counter, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and the size of the lot. The figure is 6 feet, for maximum fence height without planning commission approval.
- Permits
- The section is headed Fences, permit required, so a new fence takes one, and the answer turns on how much fence is being built or replaced, and who is doing it. The figure is 16 feet, for length of repair above which a permit is required.
- Pool barriers
- A fence around a public or commercial pool in Arkansas stands at least four feet high, with limits on the gaps at its sides and under it. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum height of the barrier around a public or commercial pool.
- Spite fences
- Jonesboro has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Arkansas measures one kind of fence from the ground and says so. The figure is 20 inches, for bottom wire of a lawful fence in a small stock fencing district, measured above the ground. It reaches a lawful fence inside a small stock fencing district only.
- Corner lots
- On a corner lot where two two-way streets meet, nothing may be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow so as to materially impede vision between two feet and eight feet above curb grade, inside the triangle formed by the street side property lines and a line joining them twenty five feet from where they meet. The figure is 25 feet, for distance from the point of intersection forming the sight triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Jonesboro leaves retaining walls to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes.
- Materials
- In every residential district a fence has to be built so the horizontal and vertical support posts are inside the fenced area or hidden from view of anyone outside it, and the answer turns on the district, the size of the lot and whether the neighbor agrees.
- Livestock
- A field kept for livestock in Arkansas has to be fenced.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Jonesboro?
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Jonesboro answers this, but the answer changes depending on which line the fence follows.
Jonesboro prints a four line setback list and two of the lines say the setback is not required. Interior side setbacks are not required and rear setbacks are not required, so a fence may sit on either of those lines. Front setbacks follow the zoning requirements of the district, which means a front fence is held back as far as a building would be. Exterior side setbacks, meaning the street side of a corner lot, are a minimum of ten feet from the edge of the property line, which is a real distance and one of the few in this project stated for a fence rather than a building. Fencing is prohibited within any street right-of-way, and the code puts the risk on the owner in one sentence: the exact location of fencing is the sole responsibility of the property owner. A fence may also not obstruct the passage or storage of floodwater, surface runoff or stormwater along lot lines.
Interior Side Setbacks are not required. c. Exterior Side Setbacks shall be a minimum of ten feet from the edge of the property line. d. Rear Setbacks are not required.
The answer turns on which line the fence follows.
- an interior side or rear line
- No setback. 0 ft
- the exterior side of a corner lot
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- the front
- The district setback applies.
- a street right-of-way
- No fence, and the owner carries the risk.
How tall can a fence be in Jonesboro?
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Jonesboro answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and the size of the lot.
Fences in Jonesboro may not exceed six feet unless the planning commission approves something taller, which puts the route above the limit in front of a board rather than a counter. In a front yard the figure drops to four, and the drop comes with a condition on the fence itself: only a fence that is fifty percent open may be erected there at all, so the four feet applies to a picket or a chain link fence and a solid one is not contemplated. Four categories are exempt from the height limitation altogether: fencing in the I-1 and I-2 industrial districts, fencing in areas abutting interstate highways, fencing around tennis courts and other recreational amenities, and fencing on any lot or tract of five acres or more. The last of those is unusual, tying the exemption to the size of the parcel rather than to its zoning.
Maximum height. Fences shall not exceed six feet in height, unless approved by the planning commission.
The answer turns on the yard, the district and the size of the lot.
- most of the lot
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a front yard
- Four feet, and half open. 4 ft
- five acres or more
- No height limit.
- industrial land or an interstate frontage
- Exempt from the limit.
Also on fence height in Jonesboro
- no rule, documents checkedArkansas sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The city sets it. The one code the state does adopt is the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, run by the State Fire Marshal, and it gives no fence height. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building CodesArkansas · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Jonesboro?
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Jonesboro answers this, but the answer changes depending on how much fence is being built or replaced, and who is doing it.
The section is headed Fences, permit required, so a new fence takes one. The interesting part is the repair threshold, which is stated in fence rather than in percentage: a permit is required to repair or replace more than two sections, or sixteen feet, of a preexisting fence, and no permit is required for a non-structural repair such as replacing existing fence planks. Then the code answers a question most ordinances leave to argument. If the owner is building or repairing the fence himself, he is responsible for getting the permit. If a contractor is hired, it is the contractor’s responsibility. Whoever holds the permit has to comply with all city building codes and ordinances and to keep to the setbacks, easements and rights-of-way. A fence above six feet takes planning commission approval on top of the permit.
A permit is required to repair or replace more than two sections, or 16 feet, of preexisting fence. A permit is not required for non-structural vertical or horizontal repair actions such as replacement of existing fence planks.
The answer turns on how much fence is being built or replaced, and who is doing it.
- a new fence
- A permit.
- a repair over sixteen feet
- A permit. 16 ft
- replacing planks
- No permit.
- a contractor doing the work
- The contractor pulls the permit.
Also on permits in Jonesboro
- set in state lawArkansas has no separate statewide building code. The building rules are one part of the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, which the State Fire Marshal adopts. That code comes in three volumes, and Volume III is the one for houses. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building CodesArkansas · Building code
- set in state lawA city or county in Arkansas cannot require its own permit for a battery charged fence. Act 267 of 2023 says so: no permit beyond the alarm system permit or license the city already issues, no rules of its own on how the fence is put in or run, and no outright ban. The law covers only fences on land the city or county has not set aside for homes, and it leaves out a fence used for farming or fish farming. Ark. Code § 17-40-108(b)Arkansas · Statute
- set in state lawA battery charged fence in Arkansas tops out at ten feet, or two feet above the plain fence or wall around it, whichever of those two is taller. The same 2023 law requires that plain fence or wall to ring it completely and stand at least five feet high. Warning signs reading WARNING ELECTRIC FENCE go up no more than thirty feet apart. Ark. Code § 17-40-108(a)(2)(F)Arkansas · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Jonesboro
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Arkansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence around a public or commercial pool in Arkansas stands at least four feet high, with limits on the gaps at its sides and under it. The Department of Health reviews the plans and sets that rule. The same page says the department does not cover a pool at a single family home, which is left to local rules.
This one is Arkansas law, not Jonesboro law. All Arkansas findings
The barrier shall not be less than four feet in height.
Arkansas Department of Health, Swimming Pool FAQs
4 ftminimum height of the barrier around a public or commercial pool
Spite fence laws in Jonesboro
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Jonesboro law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Arkansas has no spite fence law. The 2023 act that rewrote the state fencing chapter covers what a fence is, what a livestock pen needs, and who judges whether a fence is good enough. It sets no height and says nothing about a fence put up out of spite. The only other recent Arkansas fence law is the 2023 act on battery charged fences, which is about local permit power. So a fence built to annoy a neighbor is a plain nuisance question here.
This one is Arkansas law, not Jonesboro law. All Arkansas findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Ark. Code Title 2, Chapter 39, as amended by Act 594 of 2023Arkansas General Assembly
- Ark. Code § 17-40-108Arkansas General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Jonesboro
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Arkansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arkansas measures one kind of fence from the ground and says so. Section 14-386-203 describes a lawful fence inside a small stock fencing district. The bottom barbed wire sits twenty inches above the ground, the next wires are spaced up from there, and a rail version puts the top rail four and one half feet above the ground. Nothing applies that starting point to a fence at a house. The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code is sold rather than posted, and the state does not put the Arkansas Code itself online for free, so another measuring rule somewhere in state law has not been ruled out.
This one is Arkansas law, not Jonesboro law. All Arkansas findings
wire twenty inches (20″ ) above the ground, the second wire ten inches (10 ″ )
Ark. Code 14-386-203, as set out in Act 594 of 2023
20 inbottom wire of a lawful fence in a small stock fencing district, measured above the ground
Also on how height is measured in Jonesboro
- no rule, documents checkedSection 117-329 states six feet and four feet and never says what either is measured from. No grade is named, no crown, no finished ground level. A berm is not addressed. A fence standing on a retaining wall is not addressed. A fence running down a slope is not addressed, and nothing says whose side of a boundary the height is read from. The corner visibility section next door is precise and measures its band from curb grade, so the city knows how to name a datum and does it for the street and not for the yard. The other measurement in the fence section is a length rather than a height, and it is unusually concrete: more than two sections, or sixteen feet, of preexisting fence triggers the permit requirement, which gives the inspector something countable at the site. Section 117-329Jonesboro · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Jonesboro
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Jonesboro answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On a corner lot where two two-way streets meet, nothing may be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow so as to materially impede vision between two feet and eight feet above curb grade, inside the triangle formed by the street side property lines and a line joining them twenty five feet from where they meet. Two feet at the bottom is lower than the usual two and a half or three, which makes the rule stricter than most. The section then makes the triangle movable in both directions: the standard may be increased by the city where that is deemed necessary for promoting traffic safety, and may be lessened at intersections involving one-way streets. So the twenty five feet is a starting point rather than a fixed figure, and a corner on a one-way pair can be treated more gently than one where traffic comes from both directions.
On corner lots at intersecting two-way streets, nothing shall be erected, placed, planted, or allowed to grow in such a manner as to materially impede vision between a height of two feet and eight feet above curb grade within the triangular area formed by an imaginary line that follows street side property lines, and a line connecting them, 25 feet from their point of intersection.
25 ftdistance from the point of intersection forming the sight triangle
Retaining wall rules in Jonesboro
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Jonesboro does not set this. It leaves it to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes.
Arkansas writes no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. One code runs statewide, the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, adopted by the State Fire Marshal and applied even in the country and outside any city. It comes in three volumes and Volume III is the one for houses. Volume III is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes, so the height at which a wall of that kind needs a permit comes from that outside code text, which Arkansas does not post.
This one is Arkansas law, not Jonesboro law. All Arkansas findings
The Code is based on the International Fire, Building, and Residential Codes, with some Arkansas changes.
Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building Codes
The code hands this to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Jonesboro
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Jonesboro answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the size of the lot and whether the neighbor agrees.
In every residential district a fence has to be built so the horizontal and vertical support posts are inside the fenced area or hidden from view of anyone outside it. Three things get the owner out of that. A fence abutting a non-residential district. A lot abutting an interstate highway. And written permission from the owner of the adjoining lot for a plan that puts the posts on the outside, which turns the rule into something two neighbors can settle between themselves. All exposed steel other than galvanized metal has to carry a color finish coat and be preserved against rust and corrosion. The prohibitions are short: barbed wire and electrified fences are barred on any lot of less than two acres, so the test is the size of the parcel rather than its zoning, the same approach the height exemption takes.
Fences in all residential zoning districts shall be constructed so that the horizontal and vertical support posts are inside the fence area or hidden from view of those outside the fenced area.
The answer turns on the district, the size of the lot and whether the neighbor agrees.
- a residential fence
- Posts inside, or hidden.
- the neighbor agreeing in writing
- Posts may face out.
- barbed or electric wire
- Only on two acres or more.
- exposed steel
- A color finish coat, and no rust.
Also on materials in Jonesboro
- set in state lawArkansas puts the battery charged fence in the law about alarm systems, and the definition there is what sets the standard. It covers where the fence may sit, the battery behind it, the plain fence around it and the warning signs on it. Ark. Code Ann. 17-40-108Arkansas · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Jonesboro
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Arkansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A field kept for livestock in Arkansas has to be fenced. That one line opens the state fencing chapter, which Act 594 of 2023 rewrote. The same act repealed the old law on fencing districts.
This one is Arkansas law, not Jonesboro law. All Arkansas findings
All fields and grounds kept for livestock enclosures shall be enclosed
Ark. Code § 2-39-101, as amended by Act 594 of 2023
Also on agricultural fencing in Jonesboro
- set in state lawArkansas law defines a fence as a structure acting as a boundary or barrier that limits people, livestock or vehicles moving into or out of an area. The 2023 act put that definition in place of the old description. The same act defined livestock for the whole chapter as cattle, bison, horses, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules and hogs. Ark. Code § 2-39-102, as amended by Act 594 of 2023Arkansas · Statute
- set in state lawArkansas puts no sizes on a fence that counts as good enough. People decide that by going out and looking at it. On a complaint to a justice of the peace, three neighbors who have no stake in the case and are not related to either side go look at the fence where the animals got through. They write down what they saw, and that account is evidence at trial on whether the fence was lawful. Ark. Code § 2-39-106, as amended by Act 594 of 2023Arkansas · Statute
Documents behind this page
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Jonesboro itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- City of JonesboroJonesboro Code of Ordinances, Part II, Chapter 117, Zoning, Article VIII, Other Standards and Requirements
- Arkansas Department of Labor and LicensingBuilding Codes, Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board
- Arkansas Department of Public SafetyState Fire Marshal's Office
- Arkansas General AssemblyAct 267 of the Regular Session of 2023, House Bill 1406, An Act Concerning the Regulation of Certain Battery-Charged Fences by Municipalities and Counties
- Arkansas Department of HealthSwimming Pool FAQs
- Arkansas General AssemblyAct 594 of the Regular Session of 2023, House Bill 1677, An Act to Amend the Law Regarding Livestock, Livestock Running at Large and Fencing
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Jonesboro publishes, plus the Arkansas rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Arkansas has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean