Iowa Fence Law Before Legislature

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Benjamin Clark

I'll admit that the Iowa Fence Law (359A) has become a side project of mine.  I have blogged about it on two separate occasions in the past, first noting that as written and determined by the Iowa Supreme Court, the law applied to both urban and rural property.  The update noted that the mechanisms in the law to handle disputes are outdated.

The Iowa Senate is reviewing a bill to address the first issue.  Senate File 2102 seeks to modify the fence law to only require an adjoining landowner with livestock (or who has owned livestock in the last five years) to help pay for the neighbors' fence. 

However, the problematic dispute resolution mechanism still exists.  Power to resolve problems under this code section are still within the purview of a group called "fence viewers," who are essentially township trustees.  In areas where township trustees no longer exist, it is unclear how disputes are resolved.

The Legislature should completely abandon 359A as currently written and start from scratch.  The piecemeal amendments to the fence law that have occurred over the last century make it completely impractical. 

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Iowa Fence Law (Needs) Update

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Benjamin Clark

Iowa Law Blog recently featured a post regarding the Iowa fence law found at Iowa Code Chapter 359A.  That post discussed that although the fence law was historically enacted for agricultural purposes, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that its applicability extends to "serve the broader public good by mediating boundary, fence and trespass disputes."  Gravert v. Nebergall, 539 N.W.2d 184, 188 (Iowa 1995).  The fence law could be used for urban purposes as well.

The fence law directs that the township trustees of the subject area will serve as "fence viewers," a group that decides the outcome of a fence dispute between two neighbors.  However, as unincorporated land is annexed by municipalities, that land is no longer part of the township, but instead part of the municipality.  Thus, the township trustees no longer have jurisdiction over fence disputes. 

Logically, under this scenario it would seem that the city council would become the "fence viewers" who would resolve the dispute between the neighbors.  However, city councils traditionally serve a legislative function, and not a judicial one.  Accordingly, it would seem that the Iowa District or small claims court would be the appropriate venue for these disputes.

Such result does not mesh with Iowa Code 359A or the Gravert decision of the Iowa Supreme Court.  The Iowa legislature should review 359A to ensure that it still serves it purpose, and that there is a clear mechism for citizens to utilize it.

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