Mobile, AL Fence Regulations: Neighbor Fence Rules (2026)

Mobile's boundary fence rules sit in Chapter 21, Article I, Secs. 21-1 through 21-5 of the City Code, which predates the 1991 recodification and still uses the original partition fence language of the 1965 Code. Sec. 21-3 puts the baseline duty on both neighbors: every partition fence and wall in the city must be erected, built and kept in repair at the joint expense of the persons whose grounds it separates, and if the parties cannot agree, either one may simply have the fence or wall built or repaired.

Sec. 21-2 gives the director of inspection services authority to step in ahead of any court fight. On application of the owner from either side, the director may order a partition fence repaired and must require an equitable division of the repair cost between the two owners. Anyone who fails or refuses to pay the share the director sets is guilty of violating Sec. 21-2 in its own right.

If a dispute reaches the level of necessity for repair, the extent of repair, or the dollar amount owed, Sec. 21-4 sends the matter to the judge of the municipal court, who appoints three disinterested freeholders of the city as inspectors to examine the fence and report back the amount due and who owes it to whom. Under Sec. 21-5, once that report comes in, the judge orders the delinquent owner to pay within ten days, plus two dollars to each of the three inspectors. A delinquent owner who ignores that payment order after due notice is punished the same as a refusal under Sec. 21-2.