Fence laws in Wichita, Kansas
What the Wichita municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Wichita sets no rule of its own, the Kansas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Wichita, Kansas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Neither the fences chapter nor the unified zoning code states a distance between a fence and a lot line, so a fence may stand on the boundary, and the answer turns on whether the fence is opaque and whether it sits in a required street yard. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a property line.
- How tall
- Wichita is governed by the Wichita-Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code, and reading it through turns up no height for an ordinary residential fence, and the answer turns on what job the fence is doing and where it stands. The figure is 8 feet, for tallest screening fence or screening wall allowed.
- Permits
- Wichita sets no statewide fence permit rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Pool barriers
- Kansas sets a pool fence height in its child care licensing rules, not in a building code. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum pool fence height on licensed child care premises.
- Spite fences
- Wichita has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Wichita names a datum in the one place it sets a fence height for a private lot, and it uses two different ones side by side, and the answer turns on which rule the height comes from.
- Corner lots
- Wichita splits the visibility question in two, and the answer turns on whether the fence is near a driveway or a street intersection. The figure is 4 feet, for partly opaque fence in the driveway triangle in a landscaped street yard.
- Retaining walls
- Wichita leaves retaining walls to the city or county that adopts a building code by reference. It reaches cities and counties that adopt a building code only.
- Materials
- Wichita keeps its fence material rules in the public safety title rather than in the zoning code, and the chapter is two sections long, and the answer turns on the district and how high the wire sits. The figure is 72 inches, for height above ground at which barbed wire may start.
- Livestock
- Kansas puts the duty on the animal owner.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Wichita?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Wichita answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is opaque and whether it sits in a required street yard.
Neither the fences chapter nor the unified zoning code states a distance between a fence and a lot line, so a fence may stand on the boundary. The one placement rule that does exist is about appearance from the street rather than about the neighbor: an opaque fence has to be located toward the private property side of a required landscaped street yard along a street right-of-way, so the planting stays in front of it and the street keeps a landscaped look. Outdoor storage screening under the home occupation rules has its own distances, requiring the storage to sit outside any required building setback and at least fifty feet from a property line, whichever is greater, with the fence following the storage. Maintenance of a required fence, along with screening, landscaping and parking, stays with the owner and the owner’s successors in interest.
All opaque fences shall be located toward the private property side of required Landscaped Street Yards along street right of way to maintain a landscaped appearance along the street.
The answer turns on whether the fence is opaque and whether it sits in a required street yard.
- a shared lot line
- No distance stated. 0 ft
- an opaque fence in a street yard
- Behind the planting.
- home occupation storage
- Fifty feet from the line, or the setback. 50 ft
- upkeep
- The owner and every owner after.
Also on fences on the property line in Wichita
- set in state lawKansas splits a shared boundary fence between the two neighbors. Each side keeps up an equal share of the fence while both are using their land. The two sides can agree to a different split if they want one. K.S.A. 29-301Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawKansas uses officials called fence viewers to settle boundary fence fights. The county commissioners are the fence viewers for every township in the county. They may name other people to act for them, but the board still has to approve what those people recommend. K.S.A. 29-201Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawWhen one neighbor lets their half of a shared fence fall apart, the other neighbor can bring it to the fence viewers. The fence viewers give notice to both sides and then look at the fence. If they find it is not good enough, they put it in writing and set a deadline for the repair. K.S.A. 29-302Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawIf the deadline passes and nothing happens, the neighbor who complained can do the work. The fence viewers then price the job and certify the amount. That amount can be billed to the owner whose share was bad, and a court can order it paid with interest if a month goes by after a written demand. K.S.A. 29-303Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawWhen neighbors cannot agree on who owns which part of a shared fence, either one can ask the fence viewers to divide it. The fence viewers give notice, look at the fence, and put each equal share in writing. That written split gets recorded with the register of deeds and binds later owners of both properties. K.S.A. 29-304Kansas · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Wichita?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Wichita answers this, but the answer changes depending on what job the fence is doing and where it stands.
Wichita is governed by the Wichita-Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code, and reading it through turns up no height for an ordinary residential fence. Every fence height in the code is attached to a job the fence is doing. A screening fence or screening wall, required where a use has to be hidden from a neighbor, is not less than six feet nor more than eight, and inside twenty feet of the street right-of-way line in the front setback it drops to three. Outdoor storage in the LC district has to be enclosed to at least six feet, or to the height of the merchandise if that is taller. A fence around a sand or gravel extraction site is at least sixty inches on steel posts at least seven feet tall, set no more than sixteen feet apart. A fence in a landscaped street yard near a driveway is held to four feet where it is a quarter opaque or more.
Screening Fences or Screening Walls shall be not less than six feet nor more than eight feet in height, except that within 20 feet of Street Right-of-Way Line in the Front Setback, the Height shall be reduced to three feet.
The answer turns on what job the fence is doing and where it stands.
- a screening fence
- Six to eight feet. 8 ft
- near the street in the front setback
- Three feet. 3 ft
- an extraction site
- Sixty inches on seven foot posts. 60 in
- an ordinary house fence
- No height stated in the zoning code.
Also on fence height in Wichita
- no rule, documents checkedKansas sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence chapter gives only minimums, such as the four feet for a farm fence, and never a maximum. Height on a house lot is set by city or county rule. K.S.A. Chapter 29Kansas · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Wichita?
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Wichita law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Kansas has no statewide fence permit rule for a house. The state fence chapter has no permit section anywhere in it. The one statewide building rule is the fire prevention code written by the state fire marshal, and that code leaves out buildings used only as homes for one or two families. A fence permit is a city or county matter.
This one is Kansas law, not Wichita law. All Kansas findings
Documents read before writing that:
- K.S.A. Chapter 29Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes
- K.S.A. 31-133Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes
Also on permits in Wichita
- no rule, documents checkedThe fences chapter has two sections and neither is a permit. The first sets the material rules and the second says that anyone violating the chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punished under Section 1.04.060 of the Code, so enforcement runs through the municipal court rather than through an application. The unified zoning code names no fence permit either. The only approval the fence rules produce is a determination by the superintendent of central inspection that a barbed wire fence is needed against an extreme hazard, and for a screening fence in a conditional use permit area, a modification the Planning Commission may accept where a design plan is submitted with the application. Where a fence forms part of a development, it is reviewed with the plan rather than on its own. Sections 5.35.010 and 5.35.020Wichita · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Wichita
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Kansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kansas sets a pool fence height in its child care licensing rules, not in a building code. At a licensed child care place an inground pool needs a fence five feet tall, with gaps no wider than 3.5 inches. A building wall can be one side of it, if that wall has no door or window opening onto the pool.
This one is Kansas law, not Wichita law. All Kansas findings
Each inground pool shall be enclosed by a fence at least five feet high, with openings no greater than 3.5 inches, and constructed and maintained in good repair to discourage children and unwanted visitors from accessing the pool area.
5 ftminimum pool fence height on licensed child care premises
Also on pool barriers in Wichita
- set in state lawThe same Kansas rule covers the gate. A pool gate has to be five feet tall like the fence, close itself, lock itself, and be kept shut and locked. A later part of the rule says an alarm or a sensor cannot take the place of the fence. K.A.R. 28-4-129(b)(2)Kansas · Agency guidance
Spite fence laws in Wichita
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Wichita law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Kansas has no spite fence law. Chapter 29 is the fence chapter, and it covers enclosures, fence viewers, fences on the line, and damage done by animals. Nothing in it limits a fence built to bother a neighbor, and the trespass section deals only with farm animals. A fence built out of spite is handled in court under general nuisance law.
This one is Kansas law, not Wichita law. All Kansas findings
Documents read before writing that:
- K.S.A. Chapter 29Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes
- K.S.A. 29-108Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes
- K.S.A. 29-401Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes
How fence height is measured in Wichita
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Wichita answers this, but the answer changes depending on which rule the height comes from.
Wichita names a datum in the one place it sets a fence height for a private lot, and it uses two different ones side by side. A fence in the driveway triangle is measured above the finished grade, which is the ground the fence stands on. Shrubbery and a wall in the same triangle are measured from the bottom of the gutter or the lowest point of the traveled surface of the roadway, which is the street. Barbed wire in a commercial or industrial district is measured above the ground. Everywhere else the code gives heights without a reference: the screening fence range of six to eight feet, the three foot reduction near the right-of-way, and the sixty inch extraction fence all appear without a datum. A berm is treated as an alternative to a fence rather than as something to build one on, and a fence on a retaining wall is not addressed.
Shrubbery and walls which are twenty-five (25) percent or more opaque in design shall be constructed no higher thirty three (33) inches above the bottom of the gutter or the lowest point of the traveled surface of the roadway in a required Landscaped Street Yard
The answer turns on which rule the height comes from.
- a fence near a driveway
- Above the finished grade.
- a wall or shrubbery there
- Above the gutter or the road.
- barbed wire
- Above the ground.
- a screening fence
- No datum given.
Also on how height is measured in Wichita
- left to the townKansas never says where a fence height is measured from. State law lets a city or county write zoning rules on the height, number of stories and size of buildings, and lists more subjects those rules can cover, none of them a way to measure. The state fence law names the ways a farm fence can be built, posts and rails, posts and planks, wire and hedge, and gives no height at all. With no state number there is nothing for the state to measure. K.S.A. 12-753(a)Kansas · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Wichita
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Wichita answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is near a driveway or a street intersection.
Wichita splits the visibility question in two. For a driveway, the landscape ordinance draws a right triangle at every vehicular access point, running twenty five feet along the street right-of-way line toward the fence and six feet perpendicular away from it, and inside that triangle a fence that is twenty five percent or more opaque may be no higher than four feet above finished grade in a required landscaped street yard. Shrubbery and walls in the same triangle are held lower still, to thirty three inches, and measured from the bottom of the gutter or the lowest point of the traveled roadway rather than from the yard. For a street intersection the ordinance hands the question away, saying that shrubbery, walls, fences and other obstructions near an intersection maintain sight visibility clearance as specified in Chapter 11.22 of the City Code.
Fences which are twenty-five (25) percent or more opaque in design shall be constructed no higher than four (4) feet above the finished grade in a required Landscaped Street Yard when located within a right triangle, the sides of which are formed by a line extending twenty-five (25) feet toward the shrubbery, wall or fence from any vehicular access point along the street right-of-way line and a line extending six (6) feet away from and perpendicular to the street right-of-way line from the same access point.
The answer turns on whether the fence is near a driveway or a street intersection.
- a fence near a driveway
- Four feet, in a twenty five by six triangle. 4 ft
- shrubbery or a wall there
- Thirty three inches, read off the gutter. 33 in
- a street intersection
- Chapter 11.22 of the City Code.
- a fence under a quarter opaque
- The four foot rule does not name it.
Also on corner visibility in Wichita
- set in state lawKansas gives this power to the county, and the law is more than a hundred years old. A board of county commissioners can cut hedge fences, trees and shrubs on a road strip within three hundred fifty feet of a railroad crossing or a sharp corner in the road, and keep them trimmed after that. Inside that same distance it can also take out signboards, billboards and board fences that block the view. It covers the road strip, and it turns on a railroad crossing or a sharp bend rather than an ordinary street corner. K.S.A. 19-2612Kansas · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Wichita
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Wichita does not set this. It leaves it to the city or county that adopts a building code by reference.
Kansas has no statewide building code for homes, so no state law sets a height at which a wall that holds back dirt needs a permit. State law lets a city adopt any published code as its own by naming it in an ordinance, and building codes are first on the list of what counts. A county can do the same by resolution. So the rule for such a wall comes from whichever code the city or county picked up.
This one is Kansas law, not Wichita law. All Kansas findings
The provisions of any code may be incorporated in a city ordinance by reference, in accordance with the procedure and subject to the limitations provided by K.S.A. 12-3009 through 12-3012.
The code hands this to the city or county that adopts a building code by reference, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Wichita
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Wichita answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and how high the wire sits.
Wichita keeps its fence material rules in the public safety title rather than in the zoning code, and the chapter is two sections long. Electrically charged fences and barbed wire fences are prohibited in all residential zoning districts, with three exceptions: fencing required around a borrow pit, the exceptions allowed under Section 6.12.080, and a case where the superintendent of central inspection determines that a barbed wire fence is needed to protect the public from an extreme hazard that might endanger life and limb without one. The use of sharp spikes, broken glass and similar material is prohibited on fences and on retaining walls, which is a rule about what is fixed to the top rather than what the fence is built from. In commercial and industrial districts barbed wire is allowed provided it is installed at least seventy two inches above the ground.
Barbed wire shall be allowed in commercial and industrial zoning districts provided it is installed at least seventy-two inches above the ground.
The answer turns on the district and how high the wire sits.
- a residential district
- No electric or barbed wire.
- a commercial or industrial district
- Barbed wire from six feet up. 72 in
- spikes or broken glass
- Prohibited on fences and retaining walls.
- an extreme hazard
- The superintendent may allow barbed wire.
Also on materials in Wichita
- set in state lawKansas lists the kinds of fence that will hold farm animals. The list is posts with rails, palings, planks, palisades or wire, and rails alone stacked as a worm fence. Turf with a ditch on each side counts, and so do stone and a thorn or Osage orange hedge that was already growing in 1986. K.S.A. 29-101Kansas · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Wichita
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Kansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kansas puts the duty on the animal owner. State law makes it illegal for livestock to roam loose, so the owner has to keep stock inside a fence. The neighbor does not have to fence them out.
This one is Kansas law, not Wichita law. All Kansas findings
It shall be unlawful for any livestock to run at large.
Also on agricultural fencing in Wichita
- set in state lawKansas states the policy plainly: farm animals belong inside a lawful fence. The same section says an animal getting loose does not by itself make the owner liable. Who pays for the damage is decided the ordinary way, by whether somebody was careless. K.S.A. 29-108Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawKansas says what a farm fence can be built from, and leaves cats and dogs out of the rule. The list is posts with rails, palings, planks, palisades or wire, and rails alone stacked as a worm fence. Turf with a ditch on each side counts, and so do stone and a thorn or Osage orange hedge that was already growing on July 1, 1986. K.S.A. 29-101Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawA Kansas farm fence has to be at least four feet tall. The same section adds numbers for other kinds, such as four and a half feet for a rail worm fence, with the bottom board no more than two feet off the ground. Four feet is the least that will hold animals, not a cap on how tall a fence can be. K.S.A. 29-102Kansas · Statute
- set in state lawKansas spells out a barbed wire fence in detail. Three wires is the least it can have. The top wire sits 44 to 48 inches up, the bottom wire 18 to 24 inches up, and the middle wire about halfway between them. A county board can set stricter rules of its own for new fences. K.S.A. 29-105Kansas · Statute
Documents behind this page
20 documents, of which 3 were published by Wichita itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 3, Partition Fences
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 2, Fence Viewers
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 3, Partition Fences
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 3, Partition Fences
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 3, Partition Fences
- City of WichitaWichita Code of Ordinances, Title 28, Zoning, Landscape Ordinance
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Fences and Enclosures, table of sections
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 1, Legal Enclosures
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 1, Legal Enclosures
- Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning DepartmentWichita-Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code, Article IV, Site Development Standards
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 31, Fire Protection
- City of WichitaWichita Code of Ordinances, Title 5, Public Safety and Morals, Chapter 5.35, Fences
- Kansas Secretary of StateKansas Register, Volume 43, Issue 29, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Permanent Administrative Regulations
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 1, Legal Enclosures
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Article 4, Miscellaneous Provisions
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes Annotated, Chapter 12, Article 7, Section 12-753, Same; zoning regulations; districts; restrictions
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 19, Article 26, Section 19-2612, Removal or cutting of hedge fences, trees and shrubs; cutting weeds; removing signboards and board fences; expenses
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 12, Article 33, Adoption of Codes by Reference
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 29, Fences and Enclosures, Article 1
- Kansas Office of Revisor of StatutesKansas Statutes, Chapter 47, Article 1, Livestock Running at Large
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 Wichita publishes, plus the Kansas rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Kansas 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