Kankakee County, IL Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

County Code § 121-285(a)(5) draws a hard line between agricultural and residential fencing. It states that barbed wire and electric fences shall be located not less than ten feet from residential district boundary lines or residential platted subdivision boundaries, and then goes further: barbed wire and electric fences shall not be located in any residential district or residential platted subdivisions at all. That means a farmer whose land is zoned A1 or A2 can still run barbed wire along a field boundary, but only if the fence stays at least ten feet clear of any adjoining R1, R2 or RE district or platted subdivision line, and no one may install barbed wire or an electric fence inside a residential district or subdivision under any circumstance.

The county carves out one exception in § 121-285(a)(7): fencing built to protect public service facilities, such as communication towers, utility stations, pipelines and water or sewage treatment plants, may include barbed or concertina wire in any zoning district, but only if it sits no lower than seven feet off the ground in the R1, R2 and RE districts and is confined to the immediate area of the equipment being protected. Property owners converting agricultural land into residential lots, or buying land near a platted subdivision, should check this ten-foot buffer and the flat residential ban before fencing with barbed or electrified wire.