Marion, OH Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 660.12 of the Marion Codified Ordinances sets two flat prohibitions on fence materials in the City of Marion, Ohio. Division (A) is absolute and carries no exception: no person shall erect or maintain any fence charged with electrical current. Both verbs matter, because the ban reaches a person who builds an electrified fence and a person who simply keeps one standing.

Division (B) addresses barbed wire by location. No person shall erect or maintain a barbed wire fence which abuts or is adjacent to any public street or sidewalk. The section sets aside barbed wire partition fences, which are allowed as provided in R.C. § 971.03, so the partition fence terms come from the state statute the code cites rather than from Marion's own text. Division (B) also leaves room for a limited top guard: it does not prevent the placement and use of not more than three strands of barbed wire on top of a fence other than a barbed wire fence, provided the strands are not less than sixty inches from the ground. In practice that means a conventional fence can carry not more than three strands overhead, and only at sixty inches or higher, while a fence built of barbed wire cannot border a street or sidewalk at all.

The section sits in Chapter 660 of Part Six, the General Offenses Code, and not in the zoning code, so it is enforced as a criminal offense and prints no permit step. Division (C) supplies the penalty, and the code's penalty section, § 698.02, sets the fine for a minor misdemeanor.