Lawrence, KS Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 16-604 opens by declaring that "in any location, fences enclosing plots used for dwelling purposes shall conform to the following requirements," and subsection (d) then bans two materials outright: no electrically charged fence and no barbed wire, or other similarly dangerous fencing, may be erected or maintained anywhere in the city, with a single carve-out letting barbed wire sit on top of a fence that already stands taller than four feet. That ban sits inside the same section that caps ordinary fence height at four feet in front yards, four to six feet in side yards, and six feet in rear yards, so a barbed-wire topper is only lawful once a fence has already cleared the height that would otherwise call for it.

The surrounding article gives a property owner two ways around a violation elsewhere in the section: § 16-605 lets the building inspector grant a variance where public health, safety and welfare are still served, or where neighboring owners file a written agreement, though nothing in the article suggests that variance authority reaches the electric-fence and barbed-wire ban itself as opposed to the height limits. Section 16-606 treats any fence that violates the article, including a prohibited electric or standalone barbed-wire fence, as a declared nuisance, giving the owner five days from the building inspector's written notice to remove it.