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

Kendall County Code Section 36-980(a)(6) prohibits barbed-wire fencing and above-ground electric fences in any residential zoning district or residential platted subdivision in the unincorporated county. The provision carves out only two districts from the ban: A-1 Agricultural and R-1, where farm-style barbed wire and above-ground electric fencing around livestock or pasture remain allowed. Everywhere else in the county's residential zoning, from R-2 through R-7 and any platted residential subdivision regardless of its underlying zoning, both materials are off the table entirely, whether the goal is a perimeter enclosure, pool barrier, or property-line fence.

The same subsection draws a separate line for pet containment: underground electric fencing used to keep domestic pets inside a yard is permitted in every zoning district, including districts where above-ground electric fencing is banned, because the wire sits buried and poses none of the visible-hazard or above-ground contact risk the ban targets. This material restriction sits alongside, not instead of, the height limits in the rest of Section 36-980: a compliant fence still has to meet the four-foot front-yard cap and the six-to-eight-foot side and rear yard limits described in Subsections (2) and (3) even after clearing the barbed-wire and electric-fence restriction.

A resident replacing an old barbed-wire fence on a residential lot outside A-1 or R-1 has to switch to a conforming material, not simply repair the existing wire.