Madison County, AL Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)
Key Facts
- Exempted from nuisance law
- farm buildings, equipment, stored farm materials
- Second carve-out
- wood/debris-burning businesses
- Governing section
- Ala. Code § 45-45-173.01(b)
- Source acts
- Act 92-502 (1992), Act 93-709 (1993)
- Scope limit
- does not exempt other local acts (noise, animals)
Summary
Madison County's junk-and-debris public nuisance law does not reach working farms. Ala. Code § 45-45-173.01(b) exempts farm buildings, farm equipment, and farm materials stored around farm buildings on a farm from the county's premises-nuisance ordinance, alongside a separate carve-out for businesses that burn or incinerate wood and construction debris.
(b) This part shall not apply to any company, corporation, or business currently operating, whose primary purpose or business is to burn or incinerate wood materials, salvage materials, building refuse, waste products, timber stumps, trees, or brush and other debris that results from clearing land, cutting timber or refurbishing or constructing buildings. This part shall not apply to farm buildings or farm equipment and farm materials stored around farm buildings on a farm.
Full Breakdown
01(a) makes it a public nuisance in unincorporated Madison County to let a lot or premises accumulate junk, debris, inoperable vehicles and similar material. Subsection (b), enacted by Act 92-502 in 1992 and amended by Act 93-709 in 1993, carves two categories out of that nuisance definition entirely. The first protects a company, corporation or business currently operating whose primary purpose is to burn or incinerate wood materials, salvage materials, building refuse, waste products, timber stumps, trees, or brush and other debris resulting from clearing land, cutting timber, or refurbishing or constructing buildings.
' That means equipment, feed, hay, fencing material and similar farm materials kept around barns, sheds and other farm buildings cannot be cited as a public nuisance under this local act, even if a neighbor complains about their appearance. The exemption is narrow: it protects the storage described, but it does not exempt a farm from other Madison County local acts, such as the noise-control act (§ 45-45-174) or the animal-control provisions (§ 45-45-170), nor does it touch any separate state agricultural nuisance protections outside Title 45, Chapter 45.
Violations & Fines
Because the exemption removes farm buildings, farm equipment and farm materials stored around them from the nuisance definition altogether, the county cannot bring a § 45-45-173.04 abatement action against a farm over that stored equipment or material. The exemption does not shield a farm from other Madison County local acts, such as the noise or animal-control provisions, or from unrelated state-law claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Madison County cite my farm for junk under its nuisance ordinance?
Does the farm exemption cover everything on my property?
Is there a separate exemption for businesses that burn debris?
Does this exemption protect a farm from the county's noise ordinance too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Madison County
Compare Madison County to another location·View the Alabama right to farm overview
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