Jessamine County, KY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 94.03 of the Jessamine County Code is the county's rule against blocking a public way. Division (A) says no railroad company shall obstruct any public highway or street, or the navigation of any stream, by stopping and permitting trains, engines or cars to stand upon a public grade crossing or upon a drawbridge for more than 5 minutes at any 1 time. The only excuse written into the text is that the stopping and standing was caused by circumstances beyond the control of the railroad company.

Division (B) protects individual crews. No member of a railroad train crew can be held personally guilty of violating a municipal ordinance regulating the blocking of public grade crossings on proof that his or her action was necessary to comply with the orders or instructions of the railroad company or its officers. The same division adds that nothing in the section relieves the railroad company from any responsibility placed upon it by that ordinance, so liability stays with the company.

The penalty is in § 94.99(C): a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each offense. This section was adopted by Fiscal Court resolution in 1975 and is the only chapter 94 provision that addresses blocking a public way once it exists. Chapter 94 as printed otherwise covers acceptance of roads (§ 94.01) and excavation of road right-of-way (§ 94.02).

A separate fire-safety rule in § 91.35 bars any obstruction, including landscaping, overgrowth, walls and fences, placed or permitted within a ten-foot radius of any fire hydrant. Under § 91.36 the Fire Chief of the locality, or a designee, gives written notice and ten days to remove it, and § 91.37 lets the Fire Chief file a complaint and, after a district court finding with no appeal, order the Fire Department to remove the obstruction.