Clay County, MO Fence Regulations: Neighbor Fence Rules (2026)

Where two rural or agricultural tracts in Clay County's north are divided by a boundary fence, Missouri's division-fence law, Chapter 272 of the Revised Statutes, treats a lawful fence as posts and wire or boards at least four feet high and requires adjoining landowners to share it. Disagreements over cost or condition are decided by the associate circuit court, which historically appointed fence viewers to inspect the line. The statute is written for enclosed farmland, not platted subdivisions. In a typical Gladstone or Liberty neighborhood there is no cost-sharing mandate, so each owner builds and maintains their own fence, and a written agreement is the cleanest way to split a shared one.