Fence Regulations in New Mexico (2026)
30 rules on the books across New Mexico, 8 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Height Limits
Maximum fence heights for front, side, and back yards, including privacy fences, corner-lot visibility rules, and how height is measured on slopes and retaining walls.
Albuquerque
Some RestrictionsAlbuquerque's Integrated Development Ordinance caps walls and fences at 3 feet in a front or street side yard and 8…
Read full rule →Bernalillo County
Some RestrictionsBernalillo County's zoning ordinance caps most fences and walls built within a required setback at eight feet, while…
Read full rule →Dona Ana County
Some RestrictionsDoña Ana County caps residential screening walls and fences at four feet in a required front yard and six feet along…
Read full rule →Las Cruces
Some RestrictionsLas Cruces caps residential front-yard fences and walls at four feet and rear/side yards at eight feet under Land…
Read full rule →Rio Rancho
Some RestrictionsRio Rancho caps front-setback fences at 4 feet, side/rear setback fences at 6 feet, and interior buildable-area fences…
Read full rule →Sandoval County
Some RestrictionsSandoval County caps residential front-yard fences and walls at three feet and rear or side-yard fences at six feet…
Read full rule →Santa Fe
Some RestrictionsResidential fences in Santa Fe top out at six feet, rising to eight feet along a shared line with nonresidential…
Read full rule →Valencia County
Some RestrictionsIn Valencia County's commercial zoning districts, Code § 154.120(F)(8)(a) caps any fence or planting at 3 feet inside…
Read full rule →Fence Permit Requirements
Whether you need a building permit to install or replace a fence, and what the permit process and fees look like.
Albuquerque
Some RestrictionsAlbuquerque requires a permit before any wall or fence is built: a staff-decided Permit - Wall or Fence - Minor for…
Read full rule →Bernalillo County
Some RestrictionsBernalillo County requires a permit before building a fence in the unincorporated county, but exempts fences and…
Read full rule →Dona Ana County
Some RestrictionsAny screening wall or fence over six feet tall in unincorporated Doña Ana County needs a building permit with plans…
Read full rule →Las Cruces
Some RestrictionsLas Cruces requires an approved building permit before constructing any fence, wall, retaining wall or slope-protection…
Read full rule →Rio Rancho
Some RestrictionsEvery fence in Rio Rancho needs a zoning plan review before installation, requiring an application, lot sketch, and a…
Read full rule →Sandoval County
Some RestrictionsSandoval County only requires a Zoning Officer building permit for fences taller than six feet; anything six feet or…
Read full rule →Neighbor Fence Rules
Rules about shared boundary fences, including who pays for construction and maintenance, and which side faces the neighbor.
New Mexico: statewide
StatewideLight RestrictionsNew Mexico is a fence-out state. NMSA 1978, Section 77-16-1 puts the burden on the landowner to build a legal fence to…
Read full rule →Las Cruces
Some RestrictionsA common wall or fence straddling a Las Cruces property line cannot be structurally altered without the written consent…
Read full rule →Rio Rancho
Some RestrictionsA fence straddling a property line is jointly owned by both property owners in Rio Rancho, and construction or…
Read full rule →Retaining Walls
Height limits and permit requirements for retaining walls, including engineering requirements for taller walls on sloped lots.
Albuquerque
Some RestrictionsAlbuquerque retaining walls follow the same maximum heights as other walls unless the City Engineer approves a higher…
Read full rule →Bernalillo County
Some RestrictionsBernalillo County exempts a retaining wall from a building permit only if it stands three feet or less from the bottom…
Read full rule →Dona Ana County
Some RestrictionsInside Doña Ana County's New Urbanism zoning district, the master-planned area built around the Santa Teresa community…
Read full rule →Las Cruces
Some RestrictionsLas Cruces treats any wall retaining more than 24 inches of grade differential as a regulated retaining wall: it needs…
Read full rule →Rio Rancho
Some RestrictionsRio Rancho defines a retaining wall as any structure holding back more than 18 inches of soil, and fences on top of one…
Read full rule →Sandoval County
Some RestrictionsEvery retaining wall in Sandoval County needs a Zoning Officer building permit, with no minimum height exempting it…
Read full rule →Santa Fe
Some RestrictionsSanta Fe caps every retaining wall in the city at six feet, measured from the finished grade at the base to the…
Read full rule →Material Restrictions
Specific materials that are prohibited for fencing, such as barbed wire, razor wire, or electric fencing in residential zones.
Dona Ana County
Significant RestrictionsDoña Ana County's fencing rules keep barbed wire and razor wire out of residential settings. Under the Unified…
Read full rule →Las Cruces
Significant RestrictionsCity Code Sec. 19-2 bans electric and barbed-wire fences on any lot fronting a street, alley, avenue or irrigation…
Read full rule →Santa Fe
Significant RestrictionsSanta Fe's general street regulations make it unlawful to erect a barbed-wire fence around any lot fronting a street…
Read full rule →Albuquerque
Some RestrictionsAlbuquerque's IDO allows a broad range of wall and fence materials but restricts exposed CMU block on street frontages…
Read full rule →Bernalillo County
Some RestrictionsWhere a buffer fence is required between commercial or industrial land and a single-family residential zone in…
Read full rule →Rio Rancho
Some RestrictionsRio Rancho allows wood, masonry, adobe, chain link, and wire mesh fencing, but bars barbed wire outside limited zones…
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