Fence laws in Missouri

Who owns the fence between two properties in Missouri?

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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

A fence on the property line in Missouri starts with written notice to the neighbor. The two owners then meet, and each one builds or fixes the half on their own right. Right means standing at the middle of the shared line, on their own land, facing the fence. If they cannot agree, an associate circuit judge names viewers to split the cost.

Whenever the owner of real estate desires to construct or repair a lawful fence, as defined by section 272.020, which divides his or her land from that of another, such owner shall give written notice of such intention to the adjoining landowner.

RSMo § 272.060Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

How tall can a fence be in Missouri?

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Missouri law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.

Missouri sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Chapter 272 defines a lawful fence by whether it keeps livestock in, not by a maximum height for a yard fence, and Missouri runs no statewide building code for homes that could add one. The city or county sets the limit.

Documents read before writing that:

• RSMo ch. 272Missouri Revisor of Statutes
• RSMo ch. 701Missouri Revisor of Statutes

Do I need a permit for a fence in Missouri?

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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

Missouri has no building code of its own and hands the job to local government by statute. A county, a fire protection district or a city that already has power to pass such a rule may adopt a code by naming it instead of printing all of it, as long as the code is named by date and source. One copy has to sit with the local clerk, open to anyone, for ninety days before the rule passes, and the rule has to state its own penalty rather than borrow one from the code. The codes this covers are building construction and use, mechanical work, plumbing, electrical work and fire prevention.

Any community, if the community otherwise has the power under the law to adopt such an ordinance, may adopt or repeal an ordinance which incorporates by reference the provisions of any code or portions of any code, or any amendment thereof, properly identified as to date and source, without setting forth the provisions of such code in full.

RSMo § 67.280Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

Pool fence requirements in Missouri

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Missouri law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.

Missouri sets no statewide fence rule for a swimming pool at a private home. The only pool fencing rules in state regulation sit in health department chapters on public bathing places and on hotels and motels, and both are aimed at pools open to the public. The one place a swimming pool shows up in the statutes is a definition inside a section about what a landowner can be sued for, and it sets no fence at all.

Documents read before writing that:

• RSMo ch. 701Missouri Revisor of Statutes
• RSMo § 537.348Missouri Revisor of Statutes

Spite fence laws in Missouri

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Missouri law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.

Missouri has no spite fence law. Chapter 272 is the state fence chapter and it runs from what counts as a lawful fence through boundary fences, repairs and local option rules. Nothing in it covers a fence built to hurt a neighbor, and there is no height anywhere in it. A fence like that is an ordinary nuisance question in Missouri.

Documents read before writing that:

• RSMo ch. 272Missouri Revisor of Statutes
• RSMo § 272.060Missouri Revisor of Statutes

How fence height is measured in Missouri

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Missouri does not set this. It leaves it to the legislative body of each city, town and village.

Missouri gives a fence height and never says where to measure it from. Section 272.020 calls a fence of posts and wire or boards at least four feet high a lawful fence, and says nothing about the surface those four feet start at. Section 89.020 then lets every city, town and village set the height of buildings and other structures. So the number for a fence at a house, and the point it is measured from, are both written by the city.

the legislative body of all cities, towns, and villages is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces

RSMo 89.020.1Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

The code hands this to the legislative body of each city, town and village, which is not published in the code itself.

Fence rules for corner lots in Missouri

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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

Missouri lists the ways a person may not damage a road, and fencing is one of them. Chapter 229 makes it against the law to block or damage a public road on purpose, including by fencing across or onto the right of way, or by planting a hedge or putting up an ad sign inside the road lines. A road overseer or county highway engineer sends written notice to take it out, and can ask the circuit court for permission to go clear it. The section does not reach charter counties or the City of St. Louis, and it sets no clear view triangle at a corner.

No person or persons shall willfully and knowingly obstruct or damage any public road by obstructing the side or cross drainage or ditches thereof, or by turning water upon such road or right-of-way, or by throwing or depositing brush, trees, stumps, logs, or any refuse or debris whatsoever, in said road, or on the sides or in the ditches thereof, or by fencing across or upon the right-of-way of the same

Mo. Rev. Stat. 229.150Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

Retaining wall rules in Missouri

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Missouri does not set this. It leaves it to the building code each county, fire protection district or city adopts by reference in its own ordinance.

Missouri puts no retaining wall rule in state law. Section 67.280 lets a county, a fire protection district or a city pass a rule that adopts a building code by naming it. The code has to be named by date and source, and a copy has to sit with the local clerk for ninety days first. So the rule for a wall that holds back earth is whatever the adopted code says, and it changes from one town to the next.

Any community, if the community otherwise has the power under the law to adopt such an ordinance, may adopt or repeal an ordinance which incorporates by reference the provisions of any code or portions of any code, or any amendment thereof, properly identified as to date and source, without setting forth the provisions of such code in full.

RSMo 67.280.2Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

The code hands this to the building code each county, fire protection district or city adopts by reference in its own ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.

Fence materials allowed in Missouri

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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

Missouri says what a battery charged fence is and blocks every city, county, town and village from banning one. To fit the definition it ties into an alarm that calls law enforcement, sits on land not set aside for homes, and runs off a battery of no more than twelve volts. It also has to stand completely inside a fence or wall that carries no current and is at least five feet tall, stop at ten feet, and carry warning signs no more than sixty feet apart. Whoever installs it has to give the local government written notice once it is up.

(e) Is completely surrounded by a nonelectric perimeter fence or wall that is no less than five feet in height; (f) Is no more than ten feet in height or, if part of a nonelectric fence or wall, no more than two feet higher than the nonelectric fence or wall, whichever is higher; and

Mo. Rev. Stat. 67.301Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

5 ftminimum height of the nonelectric fence or wall that has to surround a battery-charged fence

Livestock and boundary fence law in Missouri

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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

A lawful fence in Missouri is posts and wire or boards at least four feet high, once the two owners agree on it or the associate circuit court decides it. The posts go firmly in the ground no more than twelve feet apart. The wire or boards are fastened tight and spaced so horses, cattle and animals like them cannot get through.

Any fence consisting of posts and wire or boards at least four feet high which is mutually agreed upon by adjoining landowners or decided upon by the associate circuit court of the county is a lawful fence.

RSMo § 272.020Missouri Revisor of Statutes · Read 13 September 2026

4 ftminimum height of a lawful fence in Missouri