FENCE RULES – EL PASO (COUNTY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers residential fence work in unincorporated El Paso County, Texas, excluding incorporated municipalities. Fabens Airport zoning, flood and drainage development, subdivisions, roads and emergency-service districts have their own geographic or project coverage. The Mission Trail historical area administered through San Elizario lies inside that incorporated city and is outside this page’s scope.

El Paso County does not administer ordinary county zoning or issue building permits, but fence-related site work can require a county development permit. Excavation, grading and fill fall within the county’s development system throughout unincorporated territory. The county does not publish ordinary front-, side- or rear-yard fence heights, a numeric fence-to-property-line setback, or general material standards for wood, vinyl/PVC and chain-link. Drainage easements must remain clear of fences. Airport zones, road access, pool use, underground pipelines and private restrictions can add requirements. Agricultural and shared-fence laws have separate conditions. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	El Paso County answer
Permit or approval	The county does not issue building permits and does not publish a general fence-specific permit requirement or exemption. Its development permit system covers fence-related excavation, grading and fill; airport and road approvals have separate triggers.
Typical fence height	The county does not publish an ordinary front-, side- or rear-yard residential fence maximum. Airport elevation surfaces and covered-pool requirements apply in their own settings.
Placement & property lines	No ordinary numeric county fence-to-property-line setback is published. Actual property boundaries, road rights-of-way, drainage and utility easements, and approved plat conditions control usable locations.
Common fence materials	Wood: not specifically addressed by an ordinary county material standard. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically addressed. Chain-link: not specifically addressed for ordinary yards; covered-pool restrictions are separate.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by Fabens Airport zones, county development approval, floodways and drainage easements, road access, pool classification, fire access, utility and pipeline work, agricultural use, shared fences and private covenants.
Official local resource	El Paso County permits and separate approval resources

The table above is for quick reference. Additional fence-rule details appear in the corresponding sections below. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources, and confirm site-specific questions with El Paso County Planning & Development or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

El Paso County Commissioners Court adopts the county’s development, subdivision, airport and road orders under the applicable Texas statutes. The county does not administer ordinary zoning in its unincorporated territory. The mapped Fabens Airport zoning program is a special-area exception under Local Government Code Chapter 241 and Order 2020-0718, adopted September 8, 2020.

Planning & Development, within Public Works, administers county development and subdivision functions and the airport order. The County Administrator or designated delegate serves as Floodplain Administrator under the county’s August 24, 2026 Flood Damage Prevention Order. County road access and right-of-way work involve Planning & Development and Public Works; state highway rights-of-way remain under the Texas Department of Transportation.

Subdivision review can overlap municipal extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ. Plat authority and the applicable road-design standards are separate from ordinary fence zoning. Actual municipal limits, current ETJ status and any applicable allocation agreement determine the subdivision office for a parcel.

The county’s adopted residential construction program under Local Government Code Chapter 233, Subchapter F is a house-construction notice and inspection system; the county does not issue a standalone yard-fence building permit through it.

Emergency Services District 1 and District 2 Fire Marshal offices administer distinct district fire-code functions under Health and Safety Code 775.036 and its municipal exclusions. District 1 publishes enforcement of the 2021 International Fire Code beginning September 1, 2023; District 2 publishes adoption of that edition on September 22, 2025. The districts do not publish a general permit trigger for an ordinary single-family yard fence. Association and public pools, underground facilities and pipelines are subject to their separate state-law administrators and operators.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ordinary residential fence permit: El Paso County expressly states that it does not issue building permits. It does not publish a separate general fence-permit requirement or exemption for standard residential yards. County development, airport, road and other applicable approvals remain separate.

• Development throughout unincorporated territory: The county Flood Damage Prevention Order requires a Floodplain Development Permit before development begins. Development includes man-made changes to improved or unimproved land, expressly including excavation, filling and grading. All unincorporated county territory is treated as an area contributing to flooding. Fence-related excavation or grading therefore enters this county development process even outside a mapped special flood hazard area. New development in contributing areas must satisfy the Drainage Design Standards’ retention and detention provisions.

• Development permit classes: Class I covers contributing-area development outside the Special Flood Hazard Area without acceptable drainage plans from prior plat approval; Class II covers parcels partly or wholly in a Special Flood Hazard Area without such plans; Class III covers those flood-hazard parcels with acceptable prior plat drainage plans; and Class IV covers contributing-area parcels completely outside the Special Flood Hazard Area with acceptable prior plat drainage plans. The parcel’s flood classification and prior accepted drainage plans determine the process.

• Floodplain determination before development: Apply to the Floodplain Administrator on the county’s form, with duplicate plans drawn to scale showing the proposed development parcel’s location and elevation. The determination identifies the flood zone and permit class. An applicant may instead submit a determination completed, signed and sealed by a Texas professional engineer on the county form for the administrator’s acceptance.

• Development application documents: After a county-issued or accepted determination, submit the development application with applicable duplicate scaled plans showing land-alteration location, dimensions and elevations, existing and proposed improvements, and drainage or watercourse alteration or relocation. The administrator may require a survey or allow acceptable record topography. Building floor elevations, floodproofing certifications and improvement valuation information apply to the corresponding building or repair work.

• Development permit term and inspections: Construction must start within 180 days of permit issuance. A written request made before expiration may receive two six-month extensions at the Floodplain Administrator’s discretion. If a revised Flood Insurance Rate Map, Letter of Map Amendment or Letter of Map Revision takes effect before construction starts, a new development permit is required regardless of the time remaining. Required fees must be paid before processing; starting before permit issuance carries a double permit fee. County inspection, suspension and revocation provisions apply.

• Work within Fabens Airport zones: The Fabens Airport zoning order and maps establish permits for new permanent or temporary structures, substantial changes or structural repair/alteration, new or substantially changed uses, and replacement, reconstruction, substantial change or repair of nonconforming structures, subject to the order’s exceptions. Submit the approved form to Planning & Development with enough detail to determine compliance with the applicable zone, use and elevation restrictions.

• Airport permit exceptions for lower objects: In horizontal and conical zones, a tree or structure less than 50 feet above ground is excepted unless terrain, contour or topography makes it exceed the zone’s height limit. In approach zones, this exception applies only at horizontal distances of at least 4,200 feet from each runway end and only while remaining below the approach limit. In transition zones beyond the horizontal-zone perimeter, the less-than-50-foot exception remains subject to terrain and the zone height limit. The actual mapped zone and elevation govern.

• Airport variances and appeals: A variance requires practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, substantial justice, consistency with the public interest and the spirit of the regulation; reasonable protective conditions may be imposed. File through Planning & Development for the Fabens Airport Zoning Board of Adjustment. Four concurring board votes are required for the specified favorable decisions, reversals or variations. An appeal from the administrative agency’s final decision must be filed within 30 days; judicial review of a board decision follows the Airport Zoning Act.

• County-road access and right-of-way work: A new or changed driveway connection to an unincorporated county public road uses the county’s access/driveway approval process through Planning & Development. Applicable ETJ design conflicts use the more stringent standard. Actual entry, cutting or disturbance in dedicated county road or ditch right-of-way has a separate Road Impact Management/Right-of-Way Entry and Access Permit process. The low-impact provision requires Public Works’ finding of minimal impact and an affected area of 300 square feet or less; that provision addresses the entry/access component. Restoration carries a one-year warranty from written acceptance, with recovery of county repair costs where applicable.

• Development variance and appeal: The Floodplain Administrator must decide a complete variance request within 30 county business days; silence is not approval. Relief must be the minimum necessary for exceptional hardship, supported by good cause, and cannot produce the order’s prohibited increases in flood danger, public threats, expense or nuisance. Floodway variances cannot increase base-flood levels. A written administrative appeal, identifying the decision, alleged error and supporting information, is due within 60 calendar days after the written decision. The Flood Order Administrative Appeals Board decides a complete appeal within 60 county business days. Its relief cannot vary state or federal requirements or harm drainage, public safety or other property; the order also provides further Commissioners Court review.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property lines and ordinary setbacks: El Paso County does not publish an ordinary numeric residential fence setback from the property line. A deed, recorded plat, survey and title instruments identify different rights from a road right-of-way or an easement. Existing fences, GIS/tax-map lines, hedges, curbs, ditches, streambanks, mowing lines and pavement edges are not conclusive legal boundaries. Ownership and adverse-possession questions depend on the actual facts and legal requirements; the age of a fence alone does not settle title.

• Platted drainage easements: Section 2.8(e)(2) of the county Subdivision Regulations requires drainageway easements to remain clear of fences, buildings, plantings and other operation or maintenance obstructions. The regulations provide a 15-foot minimum drainage easement width. Other drainage facilities must occupy road right-of-way where feasible or perpetual unobstructed easements at least 15 feet wide with road access. The actual plat and recorded easement establish the corridor affecting a lot.

• Subdivision drainage connections and access: Cross-lot drainage easements affecting the property must remain functional and accessible. Abutting drainage must enter through approved drainage structures, and required natural low-lying drainage areas and watercourses must remain functional. Private easements or fee strips shown on plats identify their holder, purpose, facilities, dimensions and recording information. Fence posts, walls, fill and gates must respect those actual drainage and access conditions.

• Public roads and rights-of-way: County roads must remain clear of obstructions under Transportation Code 251.008. County access rules address unauthorized connections, debris, damage, undermining and threats to traffic operation. Place fences and gates consistently with the actual public road corridor and approved access. State highway access or work in state right-of-way is administered separately by the Texas Department of Transportation; county approval does not authorize occupation of that corridor.

• Surface water and neighboring land: Water Code 11.086 prohibits diverting or impounding the natural flow of surface water in a way that damages another’s property by overflow. Its statutory qualifications address flood-control and irrigation activities; drainageway and easement requirements continue to govern their own corridors. Fence footings, solid walls, berms and fill can affect both conveyance and storage.

• Floodways and High Hazard Flood Zones: The county prohibits development within an approved High Hazard Flood Zone unless a Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved conditional or final map revision supersedes that zone. Development in a designated floodway requires an approved county variance. Floodway encroachments require accepted hydrologic and hydraulic analysis demonstrating no increase in county flood levels during the base flood. An encroachment producing a rise uses the additional federal 44 CFR 65.12 process, including prior Federal Emergency Management Agency approval of a Conditional Letter of Map Revision. Low-water crossings are prohibited in the designated floodway.

• Floodway map-change construction: Following approval of a Conditional Letter of Map Revision, preliminary approval of permit plans/documents and payment of county fees, the Floodplain Administrator issues Construction Authorization. Complete the encroachment improvement within two years of issuance. Submit the final Letter of Map Revision within six months of construction completion and obtain federal approval within two years of completion. The order also states that Construction Authorization and the Community Acknowledgement form are revoked after two years from issuance, requiring the approval process to restart.

• Zone A and nearby watercourses: Additional county requirements cover mapped Zone A; property within 100 feet of Zone A, unless the administrator finds the work reasonably safe from flooding or a detailed study identifies the flood limits/elevation; and property within 100 feet of a stream centerline on a United States Geological Survey topographic map, unless the administrator finds reasonable safety or a detailed study shows it outside the special flood hazard area. Other accepted studies and county-adopted inundation areas also qualify. Obtain a floodplain determination before development. If available data cannot establish the base flood elevation, a Texas-registered professional engineer must establish the hazard limits, floodway or high-hazard zone and elevation. For significant differences between mapped and on-ground conditions, the administrator may require an approved Letter of Map Change before the permit.

• Fill within the special flood hazard area: The county requires hydraulically equivalent compensatory storage. Residential construction on open foundations may use up to eight inches of fill necessary for drainage without replacement storage; additional fill uses a 1:1 ratio. Residential construction elevated on fill also uses 1:1. Other development in the special flood hazard area uses 1.5:1. A fence project’s fill and excavation are classified through the applicable development requirements.

• Flood data and overlapping restrictions: The effective Flood Insurance Rate Map, subsequent federal revisions and adopted best available data determine county flood conditions. Where accepted study data and the effective map differ, the more restrictive data controls and study data cannot reduce an effective-map designation. The flood order preserves easements, covenants and deed restrictions; its overlap clause applies the more stringent restriction.

• Larger construction projects and common plans: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality construction-stormwater requirements depend on qualifying discharges and disturbed acreage. Small construction includes one to less than five acres, or a smaller site within a common plan ultimately disturbing that amount. Large construction includes five acres or more, including smaller parts of such common plans. The general permit excludes specified routine maintenance restoring original line/grade, hydraulic capacity or purpose. Eligible small construction generally uses a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and signed posted site notice under automatic authorization; the large-construction authorization process differs. County excavation and drainage-development requirements operate independently of the state acreage threshold.

• Regulated fire lanes and hydrants: For property subject to District 1 fire-access requirements, access roads must have 20 feet of unobstructed width except approved security gates under International Fire Code 503.6, and 13 feet 6 inches of vertical clearance. Poles and other obstructions must remain at least five feet from hydrants. Gates crossing required fire access must satisfy the responsible district’s approval.

• Existing jointly owned or attached fences: Agriculture Code 143.121 prohibits removal of a dividing fence in which the person is a joint owner, or a fence attached to another’s fence, except by mutual consent or the statutory procedure. Under Section 143.122, a person owning an interest in an attached fence may withdraw that person’s fence after six months’ written notice to the other fence’s owner, agent, attorney or lessee. Under Section 143.123, the owner of a fence wholly on that owner’s land may require withdrawal of an attached fence after the same six-month written notice to its owner, agent, attorney or lessee.

• Construction affecting a pipeline easement or right-of-way: Health and Safety Code 756.121–.126 covers construction physically on, across, over or under the corridor or creating a physical risk to the pipeline. Before covered construction, repair, replacement or maintenance, notify the operator and satisfy the applicable branch: operator determination of no increased public/pipeline risk; payment before construction of reasonable, necessary, documented protective measures where risk increases; work under an existing written agreement; or prompt natural-disaster work by a regulated utility. A contrary written agreement, including a state transportation right-of-way agreement, affects applicability. The statute separately excludes qualifying municipal-owned-property and navigation-district/port-authority work. Pipeline corridor construction review is separate from excavation notification.

• Utilities Code excavation notice: Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers specified powered/mechanized or explosive excavation disturbing soil to 16 inches or more. Its Class A system includes the defined electric, gas, petroleum, steam and communication facilities; water, slurry and sewer facilities have separate Class B and conversion provisions, and specified private facilities are excluded. For covered work, notify the center not earlier than the 14th day before and at least 48 hours before excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. The special Saturday-notification branch applies to notification before 11:59 a.m. Saturday: excavation may begin the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at that time if the intervening Monday is a holiday. Notification is effective on the center’s receipt of the required information.

• Excavation information, responses and exceptions: Provide the work location, excavator and field contacts, a verifiable response destination, intended start and anticipated completion, and explosives information. Operators have statutory marking/no-conflict response duties and extraordinary-circumstance procedures. Sections 251.155–.156 include an emergency exception retaining prompt notice and reasonable care, private-property agricultural-operation activities as statutorily defined, and excavation by or for a person who owns/leases the land or holds its mineral lease and operates all underground facilities at the site. Other listed exceptions have their own scope. Owning the yard alone does not satisfy an exemption. The advance-notice window is distinct from pipeline ticket life. Private service lines can require separate location.

• Pipeline excavation depth, ticket life and records: Railroad Commission Chapter 18 applies to earth movement near its covered underground pipelines, including manual post-hole digging deeper than 16 inches, subject to its stated exclusions. Movement not exceeding 16 inches is excluded under that rule. Time periods in days mean working days unless specified otherwise. Default ticket life is 14 working days from original notice; a longer term requires a written agreement signed and dated by both excavator and operator. Refresh unfinished work for the area remaining to be excavated. Retain required tickets, positive responses and agreements for at least four years; notification-center retention may satisfy the ticket-retention requirement.

• Pipeline site checks and second notices: White-line a location that cannot be clearly identified/described on the ticket before notice and the locator’s arrival. Keep a valid ticket available through the designated representative; verify the correct site, white-lining and signs of unmarked pipelines. Give a second notice before excavation when known pipeline presence conflicts with an all-clear response, when an unmarked pipeline is evident despite all-clear, when no positive response exists, or when the response is unclear or obviously erroneous. Section 18.4(f) permits excavation if there is no positive response within four hours after that second notice. Report the specified initial and second-call nonresponses through the commission’s Texas Damage Reporting Form. Protect and preserve markings while needed.

• Pipeline tolerance zone and damage: The Chapter 18 definition describes the tolerance zone as half the nominal pipeline diameter plus a minimum of 18 inches on either side of the outside edge on a horizontal plane. Exercise reasonable care; methods include practical hand digging, soft digging, vacuum excavation and pneumatic hand tools. Other mechanical or technical methods need operator approval; the hand/noninvasive-method requirement has a pavement-removal exception. Report pipeline damage through the notification center at the earliest practical moment, no later than one hour, and do not cover the exposed pipeline without operator approval. Submit the required damage report within 30 working days. A release of covered gas, liquid or carbon dioxide requires prompt 911 notification. Utilities Code 251.159 separately requires immediate operator notice, appropriate damage/ignition protection and authorized repair/backfill conditions.

• Before digging fence posts: Request a locate through Texas811’s official digging guidance before digging. Wait the applicable lawful period and follow the ticket’s start instructions, check responses against site markings, and use the current No Response or conflicting-information process when needed. Protect marks and excavate carefully. Arrange location of private lines that member operators do not mark. An 811 request does not supply a property boundary, easement permission or construction approval.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Ordinary residential yards: El Paso County does not publish a general front-, side- or rear-yard residential fence maximum, a fence-height measurement formula, special post/column allowance, combined retaining-wall/fence measure or ordinary fence-specific corner/driveway sight-triangle dimension. Actual road access, public corridors, drainage, fire access and the special airport program retain their separate conditions.

• Fabens Airport approach zones: Article 4 of the airport order uses airport elevation surfaces, with height measured in relation to mean sea level unless otherwise stated. The runway 8 and 26 approach limits rise one foot vertically per 20 feet horizontally, starting 200 feet beyond the runway end at its elevation and extending to 5,000 feet from the runway end. The published approach geometry is 250 feet wide at the inner edge, widening to 1,250 feet at 5,000 feet, centered on the extended runway centerline.

• Fabens Airport transition, horizontal and conical zones: Transition limits rise one foot per seven horizontal feet from primary and approach surfaces to 150 feet above airport elevation or their intersection with the conical surface. The horizontal surface is 150 feet above airport elevation, with a perimeter formed by 5,000-foot-radius arcs from the primary-surface ends and connecting tangents. Article 4’s conical surface rises one foot per 20 horizontal feet from 150 to 350 feet above airport elevation and extends 4,000 feet outward from the horizontal surface.

• Fabens Airport wording and mapped location: The order contains inconsistent conical-slope wording: its definition says 20 vertical to one horizontal, while Article 4 specifies one vertical to 20 horizontal. The runway-26 approach paragraph also refers to runway 8. Planning & Development administers the mapped airport program and the applicable zone/elevation determination for a property.

• Fabens Airport visibility and aviation hazards: Airport-zone uses may not create the prohibited electrical/radio interference, confusing lights, pilot glare, impaired visibility, bird-strike hazards or interference with landing, takeoff or maneuvering. Existing nonconforming uses and objects have the order’s continuation protections. A nonconforming permit may not make an object higher or a use a greater air-navigation hazard than at adoption or permit application. Reconstruction, structural change and abandonment remain subject to the airport order.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Ordinary residential materials: Wood, Vinyl/PVC and Chain-link are not specifically addressed by a general county residential fence-material standard. The county likewise does not publish an ordinary yard-fence list for composite, iron, steel, aluminum, masonry, slats, finishes, opacity, finished-side orientation, barbed or razor wire, electric features or sharp projections. Applicable drainage, airport, animal, pool and private restrictions are separate.

• Agricultural and livestock fencing: Agriculture Code Chapter 143 has separate cultivated-land and locally adopted stock-law branches. Local stock-law coverage depends on the actual election or proclamation, its territory and the animal class covered. Section 143.001’s sufficient fence for cleared land in cultivation is at least five feet high and prevents hog passage, subject to its adopted-stock-law exception. Section 143.002 addresses a cultivation fence extending more than three lineal miles in the same general direction, requiring the specified unlocked gate at least ten feet wide.

• Sufficient fences in an adopted stock-law area: Where the relevant subchapter has been adopted, Section 143.028’s fence standard is at least four feet high: three barbed wires on posts no more than 30 feet apart with one or more stays between each pair; pickets no more than six inches apart; three boards at least five inches wide and one inch thick; or four rails. The local-option election can establish the specified three-barbed-wire-without-board alternative. A person is not required to fence against animals prohibited from running at large. Section 143.077 separately tests sufficiency against animal classes not affected by its adopted subchapter.

• Livestock near roads: Agriculture Code 143.102 prohibits knowingly allowing a horse, mule, donkey, cow, bull, steer, hog, sheep or goat to traverse or roam unattended on the right-of-way of its defined highway. That definition covers United States/state highways and excludes numbered farm-to-market roads. Under Section 143.003, cattle on a county road are not considered running at large when the road separates two tracts under common ownership or lease and contains a cattle guard authorized under Transportation Code 251.009 serving as part of the fencing of both tracts.

• Qualifying agricultural operations and improvements: Agriculture Code 251.005 applies noncity governmental requirements according to the operation’s established date and the requirement’s effective date: later-established operations are subject to the requirement; earlier-established operations receive the stated protection, with the statute retaining requirements already in effect and applicable before the chapter’s effective date. City governmental requirements do not apply to an agricultural operation outside city corporate boundaries. Section 251.006 covers specified agricultural fences and improvements designed for animal/aquatic shelter, restriction or feeding, produce/feed storage or agricultural equipment functions when not expressly prohibited by an applicable statute or qualifying requirement in effect at construction. State and federal enforcement remain.

• Agricultural nuisance and enforcement claims: Section 251.004 protects an agricultural operation lawfully operating and substantially unchanged for at least one year before a nuisance/restraint action. Other permitted actions require clear and convincing proof; state-law enforcement and recovery for violations of applicable law remain. The section provides its specified defense costs, expenses and damages. Section 251.009 permits an aggrieved owner, operator or lessee to seek declaratory/injunctive relief against a political subdivision enforcing a requirement contrary to Chapter 251 or Texas Constitution article I, section 36; a prevailing person may seek, and the court shall award, court costs and reasonable attorney fees. That remedy applies to causes accruing on or after May 19, 2025.

• Ordinary private household pools: El Paso County does not publish a separate barrier-dimension standard for an ordinary private single-family pool. The Department of State Health Services public-pool rules exclude their defined residential pool/spa serving no more than two resident families and their guests. Association, multiunit-rental and other public/common pool use has a different classification.

• Covered shared and rental pools: Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 separately covers a permanent pool, spa, hot tub or specified reflection/wading pool more than 18 inches deep owned, controlled or maintained by a property owners association or multiunit-rental-complex owner. Multiunit means two or more dwelling units under common ownership/management on the same or adjacent lots; it excludes primarily overnight guest facilities and single-family homes/adjacent single-family homes outside a condominium project. Covered association, shared and multiunit-rental use must follow its separate enclosure regime; those operator requirements are not the ordinary private-home pool standard.

• Pet restraint and dangerous dogs: County animal regulations require covered dogs/cats to remain on the owner’s premises under humane physical restraint, or off-premises under a competent person’s direct control by secure leash or equivalent direct physical control. The stated cat exceptions cover identifiable owner/caregiver cats with sterilization/rabies documentation and ear-tipped trap-neuter-return cats. A dog legally classified as dangerous has separate Health and Safety Code 822.041–.047 requirements: secure confinement reasonably preventing public/children entry and escape, locking, warning signs and applicable local enclosure standards.

• Damaged agricultural fences and livestock incidents: Civil Practice and Remedies Code 75.006(b) limits a landowner’s or lessee’s liability for on- or off-property incidents involving that person’s livestock caused by specified firefighter/peace-officer acts or omissions, trespasser acts or omissions, an unpermitted third party’s fence/gate damage, wildlife or an act of God. Subsection (c) separately covers an agricultural-land owner, lessee or occupant for on- or off-land harm arising from the listed peace/federal-officer entry or caused entry, trespasser, unpermitted fence/gate-damage and wildlife/act-of-God events. Subsection (d) addresses harm from an individual entering or causing entry without permission because of its listed officer, trespasser, unpermitted fence/gate-damage or wildlife/act-of-God events. Subsection (e) retains liability for damage or injury arising from an agricultural-land owner’s, lessee’s or occupant’s own wilful/wanton act or gross negligence. Following a listed event, the owner or lessee of the land where it occurred must cure a resulting defect, if any, within a reasonable time.

• Fence and pool hazards involving trespassers or children: Civil Practice and Remedies Code 75.007 defines a trespasser as a person entering another’s land without any legal right, express or implied. Its general no-duty/no-liability rule retains the duty to refrain from wilful, wanton or grossly negligent injury. Liability for a child injured by a highly dangerous artificial condition may arise only with all five statutory conditions: the owner/lessee/occupant knew or reasonably should have known children were likely to trespass there; knew or reasonably should have known the condition and its unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm; the child’s youth prevented discovery/appreciation of the risk; the utility of maintaining the condition and burden of eliminating danger were slight compared with the risk; and reasonable care to eliminate danger or protect the child was lacking. Section 75.007 preserves the specified justification for actions under Penal Code Chapter 9, Subchapters C/D, leaves Sections 75.001–.004 unaffected and creates or increases no liability.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Recorded private easements, deed restrictions, subdivision/architectural covenants, conservation restrictions and boundary or maintenance agreements can independently affect fence location, type, height and costs, subject to Texas law. Public approval does not settle title, fence ownership or private cost allocation. Private approval does not replace the applicable public development, airport, road or safety process. Shared-fence costs depend on the actual ownership, agreement and law; there is no automatic equal-share rule in the joint/attached-fence statute.

• HOA security and perimeter fencing: Property Code 202.023 generally protects security measures, including perimeter fencing, while retaining the association’s authority to regulate fence type; prohibit obstruction of a written-license/plat license area, public/community sidewalk or drainage easement/area; require a driveway gate at least ten feet from the right-of-way when the driveway intersects a defined laned roadway; and, if a restrictive covenant provides, prohibit fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line. Section 202.023 excludes condominiums under Chapters 81/82 and master mixed-use associations under Chapter 215.

• HOA existing fences and security exceptions: Notwithstanding the retained controls in Section 202.023(c), an owner may maintain perimeter/front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. The front-building-line prohibition cannot prevent the specified fencing when the owner’s residential address is exempt from public disclosure under state/federal law, or the owner provides law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security. The statute’s existing-fence protection concerns maintenance.

• HOA pool enclosures and solar devices: Property Code 202.022 protects a conforming nonclimbable water-feature enclosure made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no more than six feet high. Associations retain appearance/color controls within the statute but cannot prohibit the protected black transparent-mesh form in metal frames. The enclosure must comply with applicable state/local safety requirements. Property Code 202.010 separately permits specified HOA regulation of a solar device in a fenced yard/patio that rises above the fence line.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:

• Development and drainage review: County determination, development plans, accepted drainage information, inspections and actual floodway or mapped-hazard conditions are considered through the corresponding county process. Variances and administrative appeals follow their separate standards.

• Airport-zone review: Planning & Development reviews applicable airport permits, zone elevations, uses, aviation hazards and nonconforming changes; the airport board handles its specified variances and appeals.

• Roads, easements and pipelines: Actual right-of-way entry, approved access, unobstructed public roads, drainage-easement maintenance and construction affecting pipeline corridors have distinct requirements and responsible authorities/operators.

• Pool, fire, animal and excavation conditions: Actual pool use determines the applicable enclosure regime. District fire access, animal restraint/dangerous-dog status, notification responses and safe excavation are reviewed under their own requirements.

• Shared fences and private disputes: Public statutory duties concerning attached fences and qualifying agricultural operations remain distinct from private HOA review, covenant enforcement, boundary ownership and maintenance/cost agreements.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within unincorporated El Paso County, Texas. Updated November 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Texas laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Texas.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official statutes, ordinances, orders, permits, certificates, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, recorded documents or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary with municipal or unincorporated location, applicable extraterritorial authority, zoning or special-area status, code adoption and amendments, site conditions, subdivision or plat conditions, easements, rights-of-way, drainage and floodplain requirements, historic or design districts, pool use, agricultural operations and stock laws, fence ownership or attachment, coastal or public-access conditions, utility and pipeline excavation requirements, and private restrictions subject to Texas law. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and site-specific limitations with El Paso County Planning & Development and the responsible office for each applicable issue, and review applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with controlling law, adopted regulations or official requirements, the controlling authorities govern. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.