All 50 states and DC
Livestock and lawful fence laws by state
Almost every state fence statute in the country is an agriculture statute, and reading one as a rule about a back yard fence is the most common mistake in this subject. A lawful fence is not a fence that is legal to build. It is a fence good enough to hold or exclude livestock, defined by strand counts, post spacing and height. Which side has to build it depends on whether the state is fence out, where the person who wants animals kept away builds the fence, or fence in, where the animal owner does.
Livestock and lawful fence laws by state, state by state
48 stated, 1 conditional, 1 delegated. Every row links the state page and the document behind it.
| State | What the record says | Lawful fence spec | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | StatedAlabama prints what a fence has to be to count as a lawful fence. | 5 ft | Ala. Code 3-4-1 |
| Alaska | StatedAlaska handles loose livestock by district rather than by fence. | none stated | AS 03.35.010(b) |
| Arizona | StatedArizona prints a full build sheet for a lawful fence. | 50 in | A.R.S. 3-1426 |
| Arkansas | StatedAct 594 of 2023 rewrote the Arkansas fencing chapter. | none stated | Ark. Code § 2-39-101, as amended by Act 594 of 2023 |
| California | StatedCalifornia defines a lawful fence as one that is strong enough to keep livestock from getting in or out. | 4 ft | Cal. Food & Agric. Code 17121 |
| Colorado | StatedColorado defines a lawful fence in its fence law. | 3 strands | C.R.S. 35-46-101 |
| Connecticut | StatedConnecticut tells landowners to build and keep up fences good enough to hold their fields and keep their li... | 4 ft | Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-43 |
| Delaware | StatedDelaware defines a lawful fence by county. | 54 in | 25 Del. C. 1301 |
| District of Columbia | StatedThe District puts the whole job of holding an animal on the person who owns or keeps it. | none stated | D.C. Code 8-1808(a)(1) |
| Florida | StatedFlorida sets a legal fence at three feet high, made of barbed or other soft wire with at least three strand... | 3 ft | Fla. Stat. 588.011 |
| Georgia | Statedlicensed deer farms | 8 ft | O.C.G.A. 4-4-172 |
| Hawaii | StatedA lawful fence in Hawaii can be stone, posts and rails, posts and boards, posts and wire, or other fit mate... | 4 ft | HRS 142-61(a) |
| Idaho | StatedIdaho is an open range state. | none stated | Idaho Code 25-2118 |
| Illinois | StatedIllinois sets a legal fence at four and a half feet high and in good repair, built of rails, boards, stone... | 4.5 ft | 765 ILCS 130/2 |
| Indiana | StatedIndiana writes no height, no wire count and no post spacing for a lawful fence. | none stated | IC 32-26-2-1 |
| Iowa | StatedIowa lists six builds that count as a lawful fence. | 10 ft | Iowa Code 359A.18 |
| Kansas | StatedKansas is a fence in state. | none stated | K.S.A. 47-122 |
| Kentucky | StatedKentucky defines a lawful fence four ways. | 4 ft | KRS 256.010(1)(a) |
| Louisiana | ConditionalLouisiana does not pick one rule for the whole state. | none stated | La. R.S. 3:3007 |
| Maine | StatedMaine sets its legal fence at four feet high and in good repair. | 4 ft | 30-A M.R.S. 2951 |
| Maryland | DelegatedMaryland writes no statewide build sheet for a farm fence. | none stated | Md. Code, Local Gov't 10-318 |
| Massachusetts | StatedMassachusetts sets a legal and sufficient fence at four feet high and in good repair. | 4 ft | M.G.L. c. 49, s. 2 |
| Michigan | StatedMichigan sets no height, wire count, board count, or post spacing for a farm fence. | none stated | MCL 43.51 |
| Minnesota | StatedMinnesota lists the builds that count as a legal and sufficient fence. | 32 in | Minn. Stat. 344.02, subd. 1 |
| Mississippi | Not read yet | none stated | none |
| Missouri | StatedMissouri defines a lawful fence by build rather than by style. | 4 ft | RSMo § 272.020 |
| Montana | StatedMontana still carries a full legal fence definition, written in 1881 and amended as recently as 2017. | 42 in | MCA 81-4-101 |
| Nebraska | StatedNebraska sets a build standard for the lawful fence that livestock and division fence duties rest on. | 54 in | Neb. Rev. Stat. 34-116 |
| Nevada | StatedNevada defines a legal fence for livestock. | 20 ft | NRS 569.431 |
| New Hampshire | StatedNew Hampshire defines a legal fence by adequacy rather than by inches. | none stated | RSA 473:5 |
| New Jersey | StatedNew Jersey sets one height for a lawful fence and one job for it to do. | 50 in | N.J.S.A. 4:20-1 |
| New Mexico | StatedNew Mexico is a fence out state, and the state livestock agency says so directly. | none stated | NMSA 1978 Section 77-16-1, as quoted by the agency |
| New York | Stateddivision fences between adjoining tracts of land | 4 strands | Town Law 309 |
| North Carolina | StatedNorth Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state. | none stated | N.C.G.S. 68-16 |
| North Dakota | StatedNorth Dakota lists seven builds that count as a legal fence. | 3 strands | N.D.C.C. 47-26-01(5) |
| Ohio | StatedOhio names one fence as the standard for a line between neighbors where livestock are kept, and calls it a... | 48 in | ORC 971.01(F) |
| Oklahoma | StatedOklahoma defines a lawful fence for livestock by statute. | 54 in | 4 O.S. § 154 |
| Oregon | StatedOregon calls the farm standard an adequate fence and describes what it has to do rather than how it is built. | none stated | ORS 607.007(1) |
| Pennsylvania | StatedPennsylvania settles one question about farm fences and leaves the rest alone. | none stated | 1899 Act 111, Section 2 (29 P.S. 32) |
| Rhode Island | StatedRhode Island lists seven kinds of lawful fence and gives each one a build. | 11 strands | R.I. Gen. Laws 34-10-1 |
| South Carolina | StatedSouth Carolina puts the duty on the animal owner. | none stated | S.C. Code 47-7-110 |
| South Dakota | StatedSouth Dakota writes out what a legal partition fence is when the two owners have not agreed on something else. | 4 strands | SDCL 43-23-4 |
| Tennessee | StatedThe same 1999 act widened what counts as sufficient fencing in Tennessee. | none stated | T.C.A. § 44-8-102(b), as added by Public Chapter 266 of 1999 |
| Texas | Statedcounties and areas that have adopted the local option stock law under Subchapter B | 4 ft | Agric. Code 143.028(b) |
| Utah | StatedUtah is a fence out state. | none stated | Utah Code 4-25-205 |
| Vermont | StatedVermont measures a sufficient fence against sheep. | 54 in | 24 V.S.A. 3801 |
| Virginia | StatedVirginia describes a lawful fence several ways and any one of them counts, so long as the livestock cannot... | 42 in | Va. Code 55.1-2804 |
| Washington | StatedWashington prints the fence in the statute. | 48 in | RCW 16.60.010 |
| West Virginia | StatedWest Virginia spells out what counts as a lawful fence for holding horses, mules, cattle, sheep, swine, and... | 6 strands | W. Va. Code 19-17-1 |
| Wisconsin | StatedWisconsin lists the fences that count as legal and says none other do. | 50 in | Wis. Stat. 90.02(3) |
| Wyoming | StatedWyoming defines three lawful fence types by statute. | 3 strands | W.S. 11-28-102(a)(i), (c) |
The other nine questions
A fence rule usually turns on more than one of these, and the answer to one does not settle another.
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 each state page carries the date its documents were read. How findings are made · What the terms mean · Browse by state