FENCE RULES – PEARL RIVER (COUNTY), MISSISSIPPI

OVERVIEW

Residential fences are permitted on private property within Pearl River County, subject to local regulations.

This page applies to properties in the unincorporated areas of Pearl River County; incorporated municipalities such as Picayune and Poplarville may regulate fences under their own ordinances.

Fence-related requirements for Pearl River County appear in the Pearl River County Planning and Building Department materials, the Ordinance for Adoption of the 2018 Family of International Building Codes, the 2024 Pearl River County Subdivision Regulations, the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, the Animal Control Ordinance, and county permit materials. Pearl River County does not publish a consolidated residential fence ordinance or a separate county fence-permit page in the referenced published materials.

This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s adopted code or ordinance materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the code does not specify one. If no local code or ordinance is available in the approved source packet, this page notes that the jurisdiction does not publish the relevant standard in the referenced published materials.

Compiled From Pearl River County Planning and Building Department, Pearl River County Building Division, Ordinance for Adoption of the 2018 Family of International Building Codes, 2018 International Residential Code, 2024 Pearl River County Subdivision Regulations, Pearl River County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, Pearl River County Animal Control Ordinance, Residential-Commercial Permit Checklist, and Mississippi Damage Prevention Law / Mississippi 811 as of July 2026.

GOVERNANCE

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors governs county matters in unincorporated Pearl River County. The Pearl River County Planning and Building Department includes the Planning and Development, Building, and Floodplain Management Divisions and authorizes permits for site development and building construction projects.

The Building Division administers the County-adopted 2018 International Residential Code, 2018 International Building Code, and related 2018 International Codes. The County adoption ordinance revises selected code provisions but does not revise the IRC fence exemption in Section R105.2.

Mississippi Construction-Code Status: Subject to State Uniform Construction Code / Locally Administered. Pearl River County publishes a locally adopted and administered residential code edition rather than relying on the State Fire Marshal as the ordinary one- and two-family residential code administrator.

The Planning and Development Division administers the County Subdivision Regulations and Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. The Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance designates the Director of Planning and Development or designee as the Floodplain Administrator.

Pearl River County does not publish a consolidated countywide residential fence code. The referenced county materials do not establish an ordinary residential zoning height, yard-placement, visibility, or material standard outside the specific building-code, subdivision, floodplain, animal-control, and pool-barrier contexts described below.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Building-Code Permit Context: Pearl River County administers the 2018 International Residential Code. IRC Section R105.2 includes a building-permit exemption for fences not over 7 feet high. Pearl River County does not publish a separate local fence permit requirement for standard residential fences. The referenced published materials do not state an affirmative building-permit trigger for fences above 7 feet.

• County Permit Publication: The County publishes a general Residential-Commercial Permit Checklist, but that checklist and the referenced permit page do not identify standard residential fences as a separate permit category or state that every residential fence requires a building permit.

• Floodplain Development Permit: A Floodplain Development Permit is required before development activity begins in an identified Special Flood Hazard Area. The Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance defines development to include buildings or other structures, excavation, drilling, filling, grading, paving, and other man-made changes to real estate. Fence installation involving those activities in a mapped flood-hazard area is subject to review by the Pearl River County Floodplain Administrator.

• Zoning Compliance: Building-code permit exemptions and local construction-code administration are separate from zoning, setback, subdivision, floodplain, stormwater, drainage, historic, right-of-way, easement, utility, and plat requirements. Confirm any applicable zoning conditions, setbacks, plat requirements, and site-specific limitations with the Pearl River County Planning and Building Department before construction.

• Pool-Barrier Context: Pearl River County adopted the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. A fence used as part of a regulated swimming-pool or spa barrier is subject to that separate pool-code framework in addition to the ordinary fence rules described on this page.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property Lines: The ordinances do not state a setback requirement for standard residential fences from property lines; however, fences must be located entirely on the owner’s property and must not encroach into rights-of-way or easements.

• Subdivision Easements: For property governed by the Pearl River County Subdivision Regulations, fences are not permitted in easements.

• Special Flood Hazard Areas: Fence placement that involves excavation, drilling, filling, grading, a structure, or another defined development activity in an identified Special Flood Hazard Area is subject to floodplain review and the County Floodplain Development Permit process before work begins.

• Regulatory Floodways: Encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements, and other development, are prohibited in a designated floodway unless a registered professional engineer provides supporting technical data demonstrating that the encroachment will cause no increase in flood levels during the base-flood discharge.

• Streams Without Base-Flood Elevations or Floodways: Within a Special Flood Hazard Area where base-flood elevation and floodway data are unavailable, no encroachment, fill, or other development may be placed within a distance from the stream bank equal to five times the stream width at the top of the bank or 20 feet on each side from the top of the bank, whichever is greater, unless a registered professional engineer certifies that the encroachment will not increase flood levels during the base-flood discharge.

• Utility Safety: Mississippi law requires notice through Mississippi 811 before excavation where the Mississippi Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act applies. For fence projects that involve digging, including digging, drilling, augering, boring, grading, or other movement of earth, notice generally must be given at least three full working days before excavation begins. Mississippi 811 is a notification center and does not mark lines itself; member utilities or their locators mark covered facilities, and the excavator must check the positive-response status before beginning work where required. This statewide utility-notice framework is separate from local fence permitting, zoning, development approval, easement limits, right-of-way approvals, floodplain review, stormwater review, drainage review, historic or design review, HOA restrictions, and other applicable requirements.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Maximum Height: Pearl River County does not publish a defined countywide maximum height for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.

• Building-Code Exemption Height: The 7-foot threshold in the 2018 International Residential Code is a building-permit exemption threshold. It is not stated as the maximum lawful height for a residential fence, and the County does not publish an affirmative permit rule for fences above that height in the referenced published materials.

• Yard-Based Height: The referenced county ordinances do not specify separate maximum heights for ordinary front-yard, side-yard, rear-yard, corner-lot, rural residential, agricultural residential, or large-lot fences.

• Visibility: The referenced county ordinances do not specify a county clear-vision, sight-triangle, driveway-visibility, alley-visibility, or intersection-visibility standard for standard residential fences.

• Special Development Standards: The Subdivision Regulations limit privacy fences associated with individual units in mobile-home parks and tiny-home communities to 6 feet and require separation from other units. Those provisions are special-development standards and are not stated as countywide height limits for ordinary single-family residential lots.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Standard Materials: Pearl River County does not publish a defined countywide material, opacity, finished-side, gate, column, or construction standard for ordinary residential boundary fences in the referenced published materials.

• Prohibited Materials: The referenced county ordinances do not specify countywide residential prohibitions for chain link, wood, vinyl, masonry walls, barbed wire, razor wire, or decorative fence materials.

• Animal Restraint: The Pearl River County Animal Control Ordinance recognizes a yard fully enclosed by a good, secure, and substantial fence as a form of animal restraint. Functional invisible fencing used with an appropriate charged collar may qualify as restraint for an ordinary animal, but this animal-control provision is not a countywide approval of electric boundary fencing for every residential use.

• Dangerous Dogs: A dog classified as dangerous must be kept in a proper enclosure to prevent escape, and clearly visible warning signs must be posted at property entry points and on the enclosure. These requirements apply to dangerous-dog confinement rather than to standard residential fences generally.

• Pool Barriers: A fence used as a swimming-pool or spa barrier must satisfy the adopted 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code in addition to applicable subdivision, floodplain, easement, utility, and private-restriction requirements.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Private restrictions operate independently from Pearl River County fence rules. These may include HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, agricultural agreements, private boundary agreements, recorded agreements, conservation easements, and similar private controls.

A private restriction may impose a lower height, different material, additional setback, design-review requirement, or other limitation even when a fence satisfies the County-published requirements. The County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance also preserves existing easements, covenants, and deed restrictions and applies the more stringent restriction where its provisions overlap.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

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

• Building-Code Permit Context: Whether the fence is not over 7 feet high and therefore within the 2018 IRC building-permit exemption, while recognizing that the County does not publish an affirmative permit trigger for fences above 7 feet.

• Subdivision Easements: Whether a fence is proposed within an easement where the County Subdivision Regulations prohibit fences and other listed encroachments.

• Floodplain Permit Review: Whether the project is in an identified Special Flood Hazard Area and involves excavation, drilling, fill, grading, a structure, or another form of development requiring a Floodplain Development Permit.

• Floodway and Stream Review: Whether the fence project creates a regulated encroachment in a floodway or within the protected stream-bank area where engineering certification may be required.

• Special Development Standards: Whether a fence is part of a mobile-home park or tiny-home community subject to the development-specific 6-foot privacy-fence provisions.

• Animal Enclosures: Whether an enclosure provides the restraint required by the Animal Control Ordinance or is used to confine a dog classified as dangerous.

• Pool-Barrier Use: Whether the fence forms part of a swimming-pool or spa barrier under the adopted 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.

• Utility Safety: Whether the project involves digging, drilling, augering, boring, grading, or other excavation requiring Mississippi 811 notice and positive-response review.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within Pearl River County, based on the referenced published materials as of July 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Mississippi laws apply statewide. See Statewide fence laws in Mississippi.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, zoning approvals, zoning certifications, development approvals, locally adopted building codes, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, floodplain status, stormwater requirements, drainage conditions, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, livestock or party-fence context, local building-code administration, adopted-code status, opt-out status, pool-barrier use, Mississippi 811 utility-safety requirements, coastal wetlands conditions, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, or conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with the Pearl River County Planning and Building Department and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from Pearl River County staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.