Dearborn County, IN Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

The Dearborn County Code speaks to outdoor cooking grills in one place: § 96.01(B)(2), inside Chapter 96 Fire Prevention. That chapter has a single section, the Burning Ban, which the President of the Board of Commissioners can invoke by declaring, pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-29, that a state of emergency exists necessitating a burn ban in Dearborn County. The code prints no balcony rule, no required distance between a grill and a building, and no multifamily propane cylinder limit, so those questions are not answered by the county ordinance.

What the section does say is aimed at open burning during the emergency. Once the declaration is issued, open burning of any kind using wood or any other combustible matter can be prohibited, with an exception for cooking grills fueled by charcoal briquettes or propane gas. In other words, a charcoal briquette grill or a propane grill keeps working through a burn ban, while a wood fire built for cooking does not qualify for the grill exception.

The exception comes with one condition. Charcoal from permitted grills shall not be removed from a grill until the charcoal has been thoroughly extinguished. Dumping hot briquettes into a trash can, onto the ground or into a burn barrel breaks that requirement.

The declaration is temporary. It is in force until the next meeting of the Board of Commissioners, which either rejects it, ending the ban immediately, or ratifies it, keeping the ban until the Board declares the emergency over. Under § 96.01(G), residents are directed to comply with emergency management measures and to obey the lawful directions of properly identified officers.

Campfires and recreational fires are handled in a separate item of the same section, with a fire ring requirement.