Killeen, TX Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

The animal code starts from a blanket prohibition: Sec. 6-153(a) makes it unlawful to keep livestock, swine or fowl anywhere inside Killeen city limits, with a narrow carve-out for Killeen ISD and the city itself. Sec. 6-154 supplies the actual right-to-farm protection landowners rely on: notwithstanding that ban, any parcel that is both zoned and actually used as AG (agricultural open space) or AR-1 (agricultural residential-1) is exempt. The zoning code backs this up in Sec. 31-156, which lists stables (commercial or private), animal production, crop production, horticulture and agricultural single-family residential as outright permitted uses in the District "A" agricultural district.

The exemption is not unconditional: Sec. 6-154(b) requires the owner of exempted property to exercise proper care and control of livestock, fowl or swine so the animals do not become a nuisance, and animals still cannot run at large under Sec. 6-155 or be kept in a way that pollutes a creek, stream or waterway under Sec. 6-156. Landowners hosting a school agricultural project, such as a show-animal program, must separately apply to the city manager under Sec. 6-157 at least twenty-one days before the project starts and can appeal a denial or revocation to the city council within three business days.

Animal services enforces the livestock ban and its exemption; a violation carries the general penalty in Sec. 1-8(c), a fine up to five hundred dollars, rising to two thousand dollars for violations tied to zoning.