6 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Williamson County, Tennessee.
Verified from official government sources
Rules swing hard by location. Unincorporated Williamson County allows poultry and livestock on agricultural land, Franklin permits hens with a health-officer permit near neighbors, and Brentwood requires three acres for any chickens. Roosters are widely barred.
Tennessee law requires owners to keep dogs under reasonable control and off the loose, backed by a statewide dogs-at-large statute. Franklin, Brentwood, and Spring Hill add leash ordinances, and off-leash is for designated dog parks only.
Tenn. Code Ann. §44-8-413(a)(1)
The owner of a dog has a duty to keep that dog under reasonable control at all times, and to keep that dog from running at large.
Tennessee does not preempt breed-specific laws, so cities and counties may enact breed bans, and several Tennessee towns do. Williamson County and its main cities regulate dogs by behavior, not breed, but the state leaves that door open.
Beekeeping is legal across Williamson County, but Tennessee requires every beekeeper to register apiaries with the Department of Agriculture, renewed every three years. Brentwood allows hives only on three-acre lots; other areas are more open.
Tenn. Code Ann. §44-15-105(a)
Every beekeeper owning one (1) or more colonies of bees shall register each apiary location by January 1, 1996, and every three (3) years thereafter.
Tennessee's wildlife law sorts species into classes, and Class I animals, including big cats, bears, primates, and venomous snakes, are barred from private ownership except under narrow permits. Williamson County follows the state scheme through TWRA.
Williamson County has no general ban on feeding wildlife, but leaving food out draws coyotes and nuisance animals into the suburbs. Tennessee restricts deer feeding in disease-management areas, and TWRA discourages feeding that habituates wild animals.
1 cities in Williamson County have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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Williamson County Ordinance Hub →