FENCE RULES – UNION (COUNTY), MISSISSIPPI
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within Union County, subject to local regulations.
This page applies to properties in the unincorporated areas of Union County; incorporated municipalities may regulate fences under their own ordinances.
Fence-related orientation for Union County comes from the Union County official website and mobile app, the Mississippi Secretary of State municipal and county document system, and Mississippi statewide sources. The browser-accessible county materials provide county contact and service access but do not publish a consolidated residential fence code, zoning ordinance, fence-permit page, building-permit page, or defined residential fence height, material, placement, visibility, or right-of-way standard 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 Union County Official Website, Union County Official App, Mississippi Secretary of State Search for Municipal and County Documents and Mississippi Law, Mississippi State Fire Marshal Fire Code Enforcement, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Floodplain Management and County Emergency Management Contacts, and Mississippi 811 Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Law as of July 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The Union County Board of Supervisors governs county matters in unincorporated Union County. The official county website provides central county contact information and directs users to the official mobile app, but the browser-accessible materials do not identify a planning, zoning, building-inspection, development-services, or fence-permit office.
The Union County entries located through the Mississippi Secretary of State municipal and county document system consist of interlocal cooperative agreements for services. Those agreements do not establish a county residential fence rule, a locally administered residential building-code edition, a statutory opt-out action, or a fence approval process.
Mississippi Construction-Code Status: No local code status published / unclear. The referenced published materials do not identify the residential building code currently administered by Union County, a State Uniform Construction Code opt-out resolution, a local code-adoption ordinance, or a county or contracted inspection arrangement.
The Mississippi State Fire Marshal publishes adopted building and fire codes for matters within that office’s statutory jurisdiction. Those materials do not establish the ordinary one- and two-family residential fence-permit framework for Union County.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Building-Code Administration Context: The referenced published materials do not identify the residential building code currently administered by Union County and do not publish a separate local fence permit requirement for standard residential fences.
• Standard Residential Fence Permit: Union County does not publish a county fence permit, zoning permit, zoning certification, development approval, or affirmative building-permit requirement for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.
• County Document Publication: The official county website, app landing page, and Secretary of State document results do not publish a fence permit form, residential building-permit form, zoning application, development application, or fence-specific checklist. The absence of a published form is not stated as a permit exemption.
• Other Local Approval Context: The referenced published materials do not publish a Union County floodplain approval, stormwater approval, drainage approval, historic approval, design-review approval, right-of-way permit, encroachment permit, utility approval, or pool-barrier approval requirement that explicitly applies to standard residential fences.
• Municipal Administration: Property inside an incorporated municipality may be subject to the municipality’s own zoning, building, development, floodplain, right-of-way, and fence requirements rather than this unincorporated-county orientation.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Property Lines: The referenced published materials do not specify 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.
• Yard Placement: Union County does not publish a county placement rule for standard residential fences in front yards, side yards, rear yards, corner lots, driveways, alleys, rural residential areas, agricultural residential areas, or large-lot residential areas in the referenced published materials.
• Roads, Drainage, and Rights-of-Way: The referenced published materials do not specify a fence setback from a county road, a gate-location rule, a driveway-visibility standard, a drainage-clearance rule, or an ordinary fence encroachment process.
• 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: Union County does not publish a defined maximum height for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.
• Yard-Based Height: The referenced published materials do not specify a county height limit for front-yard, side-yard, rear-yard, corner-lot, rural residential, agricultural residential, or large-lot residential fences.
• Visibility: The referenced published materials do not specify a county clear-vision, sight-triangle, driveway-visibility, alley-visibility, or intersection-visibility standard for standard residential fences.
• Adopted-Code Context: Because the referenced published materials do not identify the residential code edition administered by Union County, no model-code fence permit exemption is stated as a county height limit or local permit rule.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Standard Materials: Union County does not publish a defined residential fence material or construction standard in the referenced published materials.
• Prohibited Materials: The referenced published materials do not specify county residential standards for chain link, wood, vinyl, masonry walls, electric fencing, barbed wire, razor wire, finished-side orientation, opacity, gates, columns, or decorative features.
• Pool Barriers: Union County does not publish a county private residential pool-barrier standard in the referenced published materials. State Fire Marshal code adoption is not treated as the universal local residential pool-barrier or fence-permit rule.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from Union County’s referenced published materials. HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, agricultural agreements, boundary agreements, recorded agreements, conservation easements, and similar private rules may be more restrictive than countywide published standards.
Private restrictions are not treated as Union County permit approvals unless the county’s published materials expressly make them part of county review.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT
Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:
• County Location: Whether the property is in unincorporated Union County or within an incorporated municipality that administers its own ordinances and approvals.
• Building-Code Administration: The referenced published materials do not identify the residential building code currently administered by Union County, a statutory opt-out action, or a separate county fence permit requirement.
• Local Publication Limits: Union County does not publish a consolidated residential fence code or defined ordinary residential fence height, material, yard-placement, setback, visibility, right-of-way, or permit standard in the referenced published materials.
• Property and Easement Boundaries: Whether a fence remains entirely on the owner’s property and avoids public rights-of-way and recorded easements.
• Private Restrictions: Whether HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, or other recorded agreements impose additional limits.
• 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 Union 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 Union County Board of Supervisors and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from Union County staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.