Fence laws in Kentucky
What Kentucky statutes and statewide codes say about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line.
Fence laws in Kentucky, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Kentucky calls a fence on the line between two properties a division fence.
- How tall
- Kentucky sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Kentucky makes the 2015 International Residential Code the required state code for homes, with the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code changes winning wherever the two disagree.
- Pool barriers
- Kentucky sets no pool fence height in its health rules.
- Spite fences
- Kentucky has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Kentucky leaves the measuring rule to the planning unit that adopts the zoning regulation.
- Corner lots
- Kentucky puts this on the landowner. It reaches the strip of a public road, for things the owner put there or allowed only.
- Retaining walls
- Kentucky leaves retaining walls to the 2015 International Residential Code, as amended by the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code. It reaches single family homes, two family homes, and townhouses only.
- Materials
- Kentucky defines a lawful fence by what it is made of. The figure is 4 feet, for height of a lawful fence. It reaches lawful fences under the fence chapter only.
- Livestock
- Kentucky counts four different things as a lawful fence. The figure is 4 feet, for height of a lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Kentucky?
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Kentucky answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kentucky calls a fence on the line between two properties a division fence. Once one is there, whether the neighbors agreed to it, went along with it, or were made to build it, each side has to keep a lawful fence on its own part of the line. A side that lets its part fall down pays for the damage straying livestock do to trees, grass, grain, crops, stock or land on the other side.
When a division fence exists by agreement, acquiescence or compulsion, under this section or KRS 256.042, each party shall keep a lawful fence on his portion of the line.
Also on fences on the property line in Kentucky
- set in state lawKentucky calls a fence lawful when it is strong, sound, four feet tall, and close enough that cattle cannot push through. Rails, plank, wire and plank, iron, hedge, stone and brick all count. Four feet is the least that will hold farm animals. It is not a cap on how tall a fence can be built. KRS 256.010(1)(a)Kentucky · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Kentucky?
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Kentucky law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Kentucky sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. State law does name four feet, but that is the least that makes a farm fence lawful for holding livestock, not a cap on a fence at a house. The state residential code was read too and it sets no fence height. The limit comes from city and county zoning.
Documents read before writing that:
- KRS 256.010Kentucky General Assembly
- 815 KAR 7:125Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction
Do I need a permit for a fence in Kentucky?
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Kentucky answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kentucky makes the 2015 International Residential Code the required state code for homes, with the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code changes winning wherever the two disagree. The same rule then says permits, inspections and certificates of occupancy are not required for a single family home unless a local ordinance requires them. That leaves the permit question for work at a house with the city or county.
Permits, inspections, and certificates of occupancy shall not be required for a single-family dwelling unless required by local ordinance.
Also on permits in Kentucky
- set in state lawKentucky law tells the state housing department to write one building code for the whole state, covering every building in it. The law says that code may be built out of national model codes, such as the ones the International Code Council publishes. The law itself names no permit exemption for a fence. That detail lives in the rules written under it. KRS 198B.050(1)Kentucky · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Kentucky
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Kentucky answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kentucky sets no pool fence height in its health rules. Those rules say the fence has to meet what the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction requires, so the height comes from the building code. Doors and gates in the fence have to stay closed and locked while the place is shut, and a splash pad needs no fence at all. The rule covers public swimming and bathing places, not a pool behind a house.
All public swimming and bathing facility enclosures shall meet the specifications of Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction.
Spite fence laws in Kentucky
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Kentucky law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Kentucky has no spite fence law. The fence chapter and the chapter on owning and using property were both read straight through, and neither one has a section about a fence built to annoy a neighbor, or about blocking light or a view. A fence built out of spite is handled in court under general nuisance law, or under a local rule.
Documents read before writing that:
- KRS Chapter 256Kentucky General Assembly
- KRS Chapter 381Kentucky General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Kentucky
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Kentucky does not set this. It leaves it to the planning unit that adopts the zoning regulation.
Kentucky never says where a fence height is measured from. State law puts the size, width, height and place of a structure into the local zoning rules, which makes a fence height a local number. State fence law does call a lawful fence four feet tall, and gives a second version built beside a three foot ditch with a two and a half foot fence on the bank. Even there it says where the fence stands, not what surface the height is read from.
(b) The size, width, height, bulk, location of structures, buildings and signs;
The code hands this to the planning unit that adopts the zoning regulation, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Kentucky
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Kentucky answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kentucky puts this on the landowner. The county road chapter says the owner or occupier of land along a public road has to take out of the road strip anything blocking it that the owner put there or allowed, and it names fences and buildings. Another section lets the county court order weeds, shrubs and hanging limbs cleared and hedge fences trimmed. Both stop at the edge of the road strip. Nothing in the chapter measures a corner or caps a fence height near an intersection.
The owner or occupant of land situated along a public road shall remove from the right-of-way, all obstructions, including fences and buildings, which have been placed there either by himself or by his consent.
Retaining wall rules in Kentucky
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Kentucky does not set this. It leaves it to the 2015 International Residential Code, as amended by the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code.
Kentucky makes the 2015 International Residential Code the required state code for houses, duplexes and townhouses, with the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code changes winning wherever the two disagree. The state rule prints nothing of its own about a wall that holds back dirt, so that rule comes from the model code. The same rule says permits and inspections are not required for a single family home unless a local ordinance requires them, so the permit side belongs to the city or county.
the 2015 International Residential Code for One (1) and Two (2) Family Dwellings (IRC) shall be the mandatory state residential building code for all single-family dwellings, two (2) family dwellings, and townhouses constructed in Kentucky
The code hands this to the 2015 International Residential Code, as amended by the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Kentucky
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Kentucky answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kentucky defines a lawful fence by what it is made of. It is strong, sound, four feet tall, close enough that cattle cannot push through, and built of rails, plank, wire and plank, iron, hedge, stone or brick.
A strong and sound fence, four (4) feet high, so close that cattle cannot creep through, made of rails, or plank, or wire and plank, or iron, or hedge, or stone or brick
4 ftheight of a lawful fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in Kentucky
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Kentucky answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kentucky counts four different things as a lawful fence. A strong fence four feet tall, tight enough that cattle cannot push through, made of rails, plank, wire and plank, iron, hedge, stone or brick. A ditch three feet deep and three feet wide with a hedge two feet tall or a fence two and a half feet tall on the bank. A gate four feet tall of wood or metal slats set into a fence that is otherwise lawful. And a cattle guard at least eight feet wide and six feet across, with a pit at least two feet six inches deep.
A strong and sound fence, four (4) feet high, so close that cattle cannot creep through
4 ftheight of a lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Kentucky
- set in state lawKentucky gives a livestock owner one free trespass. If the owner already keeps a lawful fence and the stock still get out onto land that has no lawful fence around it, the owner owes nothing the first time and pays for every time after that. Going the other way, an owner whose stock get in over or through a lawful fence pays damages the first time and double damages every time after. KRS 256.090Kentucky · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, each read on the date shown. Nothing on this page rests on a summary of one.
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 256, Section 030, Adjoining owners to maintain fence - Liability for trespassing livestock
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 256, Section 010, Definitions
- Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction815 KAR 7:125, Kentucky Residential Code
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 198B, Section 050, Uniform State Building Code
- Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health902 KAR 10:120, Kentucky public swimming and bathing facility operations
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 256, Fences, full section list
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 381, Title to Property and Restrictions on Use, Ownership, and Alienation, full section list
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 100, Section 100.203, Content of zoning regulations
- Kentucky Legislative Research CommissionKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 179, Section 179.240, Owner to remove obstructions, dead trees not to be left standing near roads
- Kentucky General AssemblyKentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 256, Fences
What this page does not cover
Everything above is state law. Fence height, setback, corner visibility and materials are set by city and county ordinance in almost every state, and a local rule can be far stricter than the statewide default. A parcel can also carry an easement, an overlay district, a fire hazard zone or a recorded HOA restriction, none of which appear in a statute.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, statutes are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean