Killeen, TX Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)
Swimming pool permit rules in Killeen, TX, also covering above-ground pools, in-ground pools, and spa installations, set fencing, barrier, alarm, and inspection requirements.
Key Facts
- Applies to
- Multiunit rental complexes & HOA pools only
- Inspection frequency
- At least once every 31 days
- Tenant civil penalty
- Up to $5,000 per violation
- Enforcers
- Attorney General, local health dept, city, county
- Not covered
- Single-family backyard pools
- Pre-1994 fences
- City can require greater height
Summary
Texas law, not a Killeen ordinance, governs pool compliance at Killeen apartment complexes and homeowners-association pools: owners must inspect enclosures and gate latches at least every 31 days, and the attorney general, county, or city can enforce the chapter through permits, fees, inspections, civil fines, or injunctions. Tenants can also sue for up to $5,000 in civil penalties.
An owner of a multiunit rental complex or a rental dwelling in a condominium, cooperative, or town home project with a pool or a property owners association that owns, controls, or maintains a pool shall exercise ordinary and reasonable care to inspect, maintain, repair, and keep in good working order the pool yard enclosures, gates, and self-closing and self-latching devices required by this chapter and within the control of the owner or property owners association... shall inspect the pool yard enclosures, gates, and self-closing and self-latching devices on gates no less than once every 31 days... The attorney general, a local health department, a municipality, or a county having jurisdiction may enforce this chapter by any lawful means, including inspections, permits, fees, civil fines, criminal prosecutions, injunctions, and, after required notice, governmental construction or repair of pool yard enclosures that do not exist or that do not comply with this chapter.
Full Breakdown
Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 fills the gap left by Killeen's Code of Ordinances on pool-yard compliance for rental and homeowners-association pools. The chapter applies only to a pool 'owned, controlled, or maintained by the owner of a multiunit rental complex or by a property owners association,' plus doors and windows opening into those pool yards; it does not reach a single-family home's backyard pool. An owner or association must exercise ordinary and reasonable care to inspect, maintain, and repair the pool yard enclosure, its gates, and the self-closing and self-latching hardware on those gates, and must physically inspect all three no less than once every 31 days.
That inspection duty cannot be waived under any circumstances except by written agreement with a tenant, occupant, or association member. 010(c) lets a municipality keep any greater overall height requirement that was already on its books that day. Enforcement is not limited to one agency: the Texas Attorney General, a local health department, Killeen, or Bell County may act 'by any lawful means, including inspections, permits, fees, civil fines, criminal prosecutions, injunctions,' and, after notice, may even have the enclosure built or repaired at the owner's expense.
A tenant or association member may separately sue for a court order to comply, actual damages, and, when the owner ignored repeated unauthorized pool access, punitive damages.
Violations & Fines
An owner or association that ignores a written compliance notice faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation in a tenant or member's lawsuit, plus the tenant's attorney fees and court costs. The Attorney General, Killeen, or Bell County can separately pursue civil fines, criminal prosecution, or an injunction, and after notice may repair or build the required enclosure and bill the owner. Courts can also award actual and punitive damages for repeated unauthorized pool access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this rule cover my own backyard pool at home?
How often must an apartment complex inspect its pool enclosure?
What can I do if my complex won't fix a broken pool gate?
Who enforces Killeen's pool yard compliance rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Killeen
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