Lawton, OK Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 6-1-5-182 opens with a flat prohibition: no person shall build, construct, erect, or maintain any electrical or barbed-wire fencing within the city. Any fence that does not fit one of the section's exceptions is declared unlawful, and the city manager or a designee can order it removed within ten days of written notice to the owner or occupant of the lot. If the owner does not comply, the city is authorized to remove the fencing itself and charge the cost as taxes, which becomes a lien against the property, a heavier remedy than a simple citation.

The section then carves out four narrow exceptions rather than exempting fencing generally. Electrical fencing is allowed on farmland if it sits at least one foot inside a six-foot-or-taller perimeter fence, or three and a half feet from any street right-of-way or sidewalk otherwise, and runs at no more than twelve volts DC. A second exception permits electrical security fencing in the C-5, I-1, I-2, I-3, and I-4 industrial and heavy-commercial districts, but only if it meets IEC Standard 60335-2-76, sits behind a non-electrical perimeter fence at least four feet tall, posts warning signs every fifty feet, and stays wired for emergency shutoff access.

Barbed wire itself gets two carve-outs: strands strung on extension arms at least six feet off the ground that do not cross the property line, and barbed wire used on tracts larger than five acres to contain large animals, provided it stays at least six feet from any street or sidewalk. Outside those four situations, an ordinary residential barbed-wire or electric fence is unlawful anywhere in Lawton.