Washington County, UT Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 10-15B-9 flatly prohibits barbed wire, razor ribbon, or similar fencing material across every zoning district in unincorporated Washington County, with one carve-out: agricultural zones, and any other zone or property where large livestock animals are kept, can still use it. Even on qualifying agricultural or livestock properties, the ordinance imposes two hard limits on how the wire can be installed. First, it must be pulled straight not rolled or coiled, ruling out coiled concertina or razor-ribbon rolls that are common on commercial or perimeter security fencing.

Second, where barbed wire tops an existing fence or wall rather than standing alone, the combined height of the wall or fence plus the wire cannot exceed seven feet total, capping how much additional wire height a property owner can stack above the six-foot fence maximum already set for interior lots under § 10-15B-3. The rule was carried forward and readopted as part of the county's 2024 overhaul of Chapter 15B under Ordinance 2024-1271-O, effective September 17, 2024, amending the version first adopted by Ordinance 2017-1095-O on June 20, 2017.

Because the prohibition is zone-based rather than use-based inside residential and commercial areas, a homeowner in a Single-Family Residential or Open Space zone cannot install barbed wire even for security purposes; the material is reserved for agricultural operations and properties actually keeping large livestock, tying the exception to the county's broader agricultural and ranching land uses in the Mojave and Colorado Plateau transition zone.