Fence laws in Kokomo, Indiana
What the Kokomo municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Kokomo sets no rule of its own, the Indiana rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Kokomo, Indiana, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences and walls in Kokomo are permitted up to the property line, with no consent from the adjoining owner required, subject to two conditions in the same sentence, and the answer turns on where the footing sits and how close the fence is to a right-of-way. The figure is 2 feet, for clearance from a public right-of-way.
- How tall
- Kokomo splits its fence rules into two sections applied by district, and the answer turns on which district the lot is in. The figure is 6 feet, for residential side or rear fence.
- Permits
- Indiana has one building and fire safety code for the whole state, written by the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission.
- Pool barriers
- Indiana puts this on the store, not on the pool owner, which no other state in this record does. The figure is 48 inches, for wall height at which an above ground pool must be sold with a removable or locking ladder. It reaches the store selling an above ground pool for a home, not the owner of a pool already put up only.
- Spite fences
- Indiana has a spite fence law with a chapter to itself. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a maliciously built fence is considered a nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Kokomo leaves the measuring rule to the local legislative body that adopts the zoning ordinance.
- Corner lots
- Each of the two fence sections ends with the same one line obligation: fences and walls have to abide by the vision clearance regulations, and the answer turns on the dimensions in the vision clearance regulations.
- Retaining walls
- Kokomo leaves retaining walls to the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, whose 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by reference. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- In the residential districts a fence in a front yard may not exceed seventy percent opacity, and the ordinance says plainly in a parenthesis what that means: it cannot be a solid screen, and the answer turns on the district and which yard the fence is in. The figure is 70 percent, for most a front yard fence may be solid.
- Livestock
- Indiana puts no number on a lawful fence at all.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Kokomo?
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Kokomo answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the footing sits and how close the fence is to a right-of-way.
Fences and walls in Kokomo are permitted up to the property line, with no consent from the adjoining owner required, subject to two conditions in the same sentence. A fence may not be closer than two feet to any public right-of-way, and fence and wall footers may not cross the property line. That second condition is rare and it is about what happens underground: a fence can sit on the boundary only if its foundations stay on the builder side of it, which rules out the wide footing a masonry wall would otherwise need. Orientation is settled in both sections, with the non-structural face pointing outward, and the commercial section explains what that means in its own words, calling it the most aesthetically pleasing side toward neighboring properties.
Are permitted up to the property line. However, a fence must not be closer than 2 feet from any public right-of-way. In addition, fence and wall footers shall not cross the property line.
6.16.A.a and b, with 6.17.A and D
The answer turns on where the footing sits and how close the fence is to a right-of-way.
- above ground
- A fence may go up to the line.
- below ground
- The footers may not cross it.
- a public right-of-way
- Two feet clear. 2 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Kokomo
- set in state lawIndiana splits a fence on the line by length, not in half. Each owner pays for the stretch of fence that runs along their own part of the line, and that holds whether the owner owns the land outright or holds it for life. Since 2003 the rule reaches only fences where at least one of the two properties is farm land. An owner who will not pay gets twenty days notice, and after that the township trustee can build it and charge for it. IC 32-26-9-3Indiana · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Kokomo?
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Kokomo answers this, but the answer changes depending on which district the lot is in.
Kokomo splits its fence rules into two sections applied by district. In the agricultural, park and residential districts and the manufactured housing districts, a fence may not be greater than six feet in a side or rear yard or four feet in a front yard. In the neighborhood commercial, institutional, office, commercial and industrial districts the side and rear figures are the same six feet but the front yard allowance rises to five. That is unusual, because most cities are stricter at the front of a business than at the front of a house. The commercial section adds a proportional allowance the residential one does not have: structural posts and columns between fence sections may extend as much as five percent above the stated maximum, which is about three and a half inches on a six foot fence.
Must not be greater than 6 feet in height in the side yard and rear yard or greater than 4 feet in height in the front yard.
The answer turns on which district the lot is in.
- a residential side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a residential front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a commercial or industrial front yard
- Five feet. 5 ft
- a post or column between sections
- Five percent over the maximum, outside the residential districts. 5%
Also on fence height in Kokomo
- no rule, documents checkedIndiana sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The six foot figure in state law is what turns a spite fence into a nuisance case, not a cap on height. The fences article covers fencing groups, fences on the line and spite fences, and the statewide building code does not reach fences at all. Height comes from local zoning. IC 32-26Indiana · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Kokomo?
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana has one building and fire safety code for the whole state, written by the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission. The commission made the 2018 International Residential Code the Indiana Residential Code. Indiana cut out the part of that model code listing work that needs no permit and put a section on additions and repairs there instead, so the familiar fence exemption is not part of Indiana law. A fence permit is a city or county matter.
This one is Indiana law, not Kokomo law. All Indiana findings
Except as provided in section 3.5 of this chapter, the commission shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to adopt a statewide code of fire safety laws and building laws.
Pool fence requirements in Kokomo
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana puts this on the store, not on the pool owner, which no other state in this record does. A store selling an above ground pool with walls at least forty eight inches high has to sell it with a ladder or steps that either come off or lock. The pool wall is the barrier and the ladder is the gate. The rule covers the sale, so it says nothing about a pool already standing in a yard, and nothing else in Indiana law sets a fence height around one.
This one is Indiana law, not Kokomo law. All Indiana findings
A pool retailer who sells an above ground swimming pool that has walls that are at least forty-eight (48) inches high shall ensure that the above ground swimming pool is sold with an access ladder or steps that may be: (1) removed; or (2) secured and locked; when the above ground swimming pool is not in use.
48 inwall height at which an above ground pool must be sold with a removable or locking ladder
Spite fence laws in Kokomo
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana has a spite fence law with a chapter to itself. A fence, or anything built like one, that goes over six feet for no reason and was put up or kept up to annoy a neighbor counts as a nuisance. The neighbor can sue for money, ask a court to have it taken down, and use the other remedies a court has for a nuisance.
This one is Indiana law, not Kokomo law. All Indiana findings
A structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding six (6) feet in height, maliciously: (1) erected; or (2) maintained; for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property, is considered a nuisance.
6 ftheight above which a maliciously built fence is considered a nuisance
How fence height is measured in Kokomo
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Kokomo does not set this. It leaves it to the local legislative body that adopts the zoning ordinance.
Indiana never says where a fence height starts. The zoning law lets the local council set the place, height, area and size of a structure, and leaves the details to that council. State law does print fence heights: four feet for a picket fence on the line, four and a half feet for a straight rail fence, five feet for a worm rail fence, and anything over six feet for a spite fence. Not one of them says whether those feet are read from bare dirt or from a finished yard.
This one is Indiana law, not Kokomo law. All Indiana findings
requirements for structures, such as location, height, area, bulk, and floor space;
The code hands this to the local legislative body that adopts the zoning ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Kokomo
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Kokomo answers this, but the answer changes depending on the dimensions in the vision clearance regulations.
Each of the two fence sections ends with the same one line obligation: fences and walls have to abide by the vision clearance regulations. The dimensions therefore live in a separate part of the ordinance rather than in either fence section, and a fence that satisfies the four or five foot front yard figure still has to clear them. Nothing else in either section addresses a corner lot, a driveway or an intersection, so the whole of the corner question is imported. The practical protection at the street comes from the front yard figures and, in the residential districts, from the requirement that a front yard fence be at least thirty percent open.
Fences and walls must abide by the vision clearance regulations.
The answer turns on the dimensions in the vision clearance regulations.
- any fence or wall
- The vision clearance regulations apply.
- the dimensions
- Neither fence section states them.
Also on corner visibility in Kokomo
- set in state lawIndiana really does set a corner visibility rule in state law, and it sits in the property title rather than a zoning one. A hedge or live fence along a highway has to be cut to five feet once a year. Where one meets a highway crossing, a bend where the view may be blocked, or railroad land, it has to be held at five feet all year. That reaches one hundred feet from the crossing, or fifty feet for other growth. The chapter skips crossings inside a city or town, skips a solid building on a corner, and for hedges reaches only where a state highway crosses another state, county or township road. IC 32-26-4-1Indiana · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Kokomo
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Kokomo does not set this. It leaves it to the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, whose 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by reference.
Indiana law prints no rule about a wall that holds back dirt. It tells the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission to write one building and fire safety code for the whole state instead, and the commission did. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code adopts the 2018 International Residential Code, so the rules for such a wall come from that model code.
This one is Indiana law, not Kokomo law. All Indiana findings
Except as provided in section 3.5 of this chapter, the commission shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to adopt a statewide code of fire safety laws and building laws.
The code hands this to the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, whose 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by reference, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Kokomo
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Kokomo answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and which yard the fence is in.
In the residential districts a fence in a front yard may not exceed seventy percent opacity, and the ordinance says plainly in a parenthesis what that means: it cannot be a solid screen. So the four foot front fence has to be at least thirty percent open as well as short. The commercial section sets no opacity figure at all. Both sections carry the same short prohibition, barring security wire, barbed wire and sharpened top spikes, and neither names a permitted material, so anything not on that list is available subject to the height and opacity rules. Naming security wire separately from barbed wire closes the gap a modern razor product would otherwise sit in.
Must not exceed 70% opacity when used in the front yard (e.g., cannot be a solid screen).
The answer turns on the district and which yard the fence is in.
- a residential front yard
- No more than seventy percent solid. 70%
- security wire, barbed wire or spikes
- Prohibited in both sections.
- a commercial front yard
- No opacity figure stated.
Also on materials in Kokomo
- set in state lawIndiana describes a lawful fence on the line by type instead of banning any material. It has to be tight and strong enough to hold cattle, hogs, horses, mules and sheep. The list that follows is board and wire, plain wire, board, picket, rail and worm rail fences, each at its own height. IC 32-26-9-3Indiana · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Kokomo
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana puts no number on a lawful fence at all. No height, no wire count, no post spacing. The statute says a lawful fence is whatever farmers normally use to close in land, and it names a cattle guard, a hedge and a ditch as examples. It also counts anything else that people who know fences will testify is enough. With no number written down, a court decides it case by case.
This one is Indiana law, not Kokomo law. All Indiana findings
As used in this chapter, "lawful fence" means any structure typically used by husbandmen for the enclosure of property.
Also on agricultural fencing in Kokomo
- depends, see the pageIndiana lets each county flip the rule township by township. Where the county commissioners have passed an order letting animals roam loose in unfenced public areas, the landowner has to have had a lawful fence to collect for damage. Where there is no such order, the landowner collects without proving any fence. Section 32-26-2-14 cuts the other way: if a court finds the broken fence was not a lawful fence, the animal goes back to its owner and the landowner pays that owner costs and damages. IC 32-26-2-2Indiana · Statute
Documents behind this page
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Kokomo itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 32, Article 26, Chapter 9, Partition Fences, Section 3
- City of KokomoKokomo Zoning Ordinance 6279, Section 6.16, Fence and Wall Standards FW-01
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 22, Article 13, Chapter 2, Section 2
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 22, Article 12, Chapter 10, Above Ground Swimming Pools at Class 2 Structures
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 36, Article 7, Chapter 4, Section 601, Zoning ordinance; powers and duties of legislative body
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code 2025, Title 32, Article 26, Chapter 9, Partition Fences
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 Kokomo publishes, plus the Indiana rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Indiana 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