6 Things Iowa Law Says About the Fence Between You and Your Neighbor

If the fence between you and your neighbor is a hedge, Iowa law says it has to be trimmed twice a year.

The law spells out a lot more than that, so you and the person next door don’t have to guess.

Here’s what Iowa law says about the fence between you and your neighbor.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Fence laws and local rules are subject to change.

1. Written Request

A partition fence is the fence on the line between your property and your neighbor’s.

Either of you can start the process with a written request.

After that, the law can require both of you to build and maintain the fence, or to contribute to it.

The law speaks of owners of adjoining tracts of land and doesn’t limit that to farmland.

Both of you also have to keep the fence in good repair all year.

In a 2001 ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court held that whether a neighbor keeps livestock isn’t the deciding factor.

A neighbor with no animals can still owe a share of the fence.

Your neighbor can send you the same written request.

2. Township Trustees as Fence Viewers

Township trustees serve as fence viewers whenever a fence dispute arises in their township.

If you and your neighbor can’t agree, the fence viewers give you both five days of written notice and then hold a hearing.

Their written order assigns each owner a part to build, maintain, rebuild, trim or pay for, plus a deadline.

That 2001 ruling describes the fence viewers’ job as equalizing the burden of the cost.

On a stretch that crosses a flood-prone creek, the fence viewers could adjust the shared cost.

Many landowners use the so-called right-hand rule, according to the ag law center at Iowa State University.

Neighbors meet at the midpoint facing each other, and each fixes the portion on their right.

If you disagree with an order, you have 20 days to appeal to district court, and you must post an appeal bond.

3. Agreements That Bind Later Owners

Instead of waiting on the fence viewers, you and your neighbor can divide the fence in a written agreement.

Both of you sign and acknowledge it, and it’s filed and recorded with the county recorder of deeds.

A recorded agreement, like a recorded fence viewers’ order, binds the people who made it, their heirs, and anyone who later receives the land.

If you sell land covered by a recorded agreement, the buyer takes on the same fence duties.

The same goes for whoever buys your neighbor’s land.

4. Twice-a-Year Hedge Trimming

When the fence between you and your neighbor is a hedge, its owner has to trim or cut it back twice a calendar year.

If that owner is you, you cut it back in June and again in September, to within five feet of the ground.

You and your neighbor can agree on a different schedule, but only in writing.

You file that agreement with the township clerk, who records it.

A verbal deal doesn’t count.

5. Kinds of Lawful Fence

Six kinds of fence qualify as a lawful fence under the statute.

Rail, board, barbed-wire and wire fences come first, each with measurements spelled out.

The fifth is a high-tensile fence with four parallel, coated, smooth wires and a top wire at least 40 inches high.

The sixth covers any fence the fence viewers consider equivalent, or one that meets Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship rules.

If you and your neighbor disagree over whether a fence meets that list, either of you can ask the fence viewers to decide.

6. Liens for Unpaid Costs

If you ignore a fence order, the cost can end up as a lien on your land.

If the work isn't finished within 30 days after the deadline in the order, the fence viewers have it done and set its value.

You then have 10 days after the amount is set to pay the county treasurer.

If the bill still goes unpaid, the fence viewers certify the total to the county treasurer, who collects it the way the county collects ordinary taxes.

The amount stays a lien on the parcel until it's paid.

If you asked for the fence and the work isn't done on time, the fence viewers require you to deposit enough money to pay for the work.

You're repaid once the amount is collected from the owner who skipped the work.

Skipping the Fence Viewers

A Cedar Rapids man who wanted his city to pay half the cost of a rebuilt fence took the question to court.

The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled in January 2026 that no judge could award that money without a decision from the fence viewers.

If you want a neighbor to share the cost, you need a fence viewers' order before you go to court.

Straying Livestock

A section titled "Habitual trespass" covers livestock that get out onto a neighbor's land or a public road.

The label applies once the animals get out on three or more separate occasions within 12 months.

If you own the land where the livestock are kept, you can be liable to build or maintain a fence.

As the neighbor, you can ask for that fence in writing.

If the owner hasn't built or maintained it within 30 days, you can apply to the fence viewers.

City Fence Rules

The Cedar Rapids case also raised a question about a fence built next to a city street.

The court treated the fence law as if it covered that stretch, without deciding whether it does.