Boone County, IN Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Boone County Code § 157.021(F)(3) makes an in-ground swimming pool an accessory structure subject to a 5-foot high fence placement around the pool area and/or a mechanical pool cover over the pool. The requirement is written as either/or: a 5-foot perimeter fence satisfies it, and so does a mechanical cover over the water when the pool isn't fenced. That fence requirement rides along with the pool's own improvement location permit under § 157.021(F) and § 157.140, which the Area Plan Commission Director issues before excavation starts, and § 157.142 has the applicant show the fence or cover on the certified site plan submitted with the pool application.

Separately, § 157.140(C) exempts any fence under six feet in height from needing its own improvement location permit, so a homeowner who fences a pool at the 5-foot minimum is not filing twice, once for the pool and again for the fence. If a fence is built taller than six feet instead, whether around the pool or elsewhere on the lot, it becomes its own permitted structure under § 157.140 and needs its own ILP and, per Appendix A, its own fee. Because Chapter 157 assigns no separate fine for an unfenced pool, the violation defaults to § 10.99: a fine of up to $2,500 for the first offense and up to $7,500 for repeat offenses, with each day the pool sits unfenced treated as a new violation. Lebanon, Zionsville, Whitestown, Jamestown and Thornton set their own pool-fence rules.