Sen. Stoops has introduced SB 308 regarding Indiana’s partition fence law. First, a disclosure: I’m going to do you, the readers, a disservice. There are many wonders and mysteries to be found in Indiana’s fence law, but I don’t really feel like going back and researching them to provide a fuller description of what they are. I’m just going to look at the bit that’s in this SB 308. My best guess is that Sen. Stoops has some neighbors in his district who aren’t getting along. The current partition fence law says, in part, that when there is an existing fence and a neighbor uses that fence as part of a project to enclose land that wasn’t previously enclosed, the existing fence becomes a “partition fence.” The person who put up the new fencing has to pay the owner of the existing fence 50% of what that existing fence cost. SB 308 would eliminate that provision and provide that the person who built the existing fence is responsible for its maintenance.
I can see this either way. On the one hand, the owner of the existing fence put it up for his or her own purposes, and those purposes continue to be served even if the other neighbor piggy backs off of it to enclose some additional property. On the other hand, the neighbor is a free rider with respect to the existing fence and maybe that isn’t fair either. I’m a city-dweller and maybe don’t appreciate the full importance of fencing, but this law does seem like one of those things that was probably incredibly important for 19th century Hoosiers that seems like a bit of an anachronism in the 21st century.
But where do you put the shrubbery? Especially when someone asks ‘Bring them a shrubbery’. .
But where do you put the shrubbery? Especially when someone asks ‘Bring me a shrubbery’. Ok this is the correct quote
The origins of the fence law is, of course, with livestock raising. Regardless of what livestock one land owner was raising compared to the adjoining property–absent any agreement between them the standard fence was to “hog tight”, “bull strong”, and “horse high”. The basic point was that each land owner was responsible for installation and care of the “right hand” section of the fence. A problem arises when one land owner has livestock and the other does not–then what. In the past the township trustee could have the fence built on the one refusing to build their portion and could put the cost on the property tax bill of the non cooperating land owner.
This is definitely an issue between two individuals here in northern Monroe County. A new property owner wanted a fence and he offered to pay the entire cost but he needed access to the adjacent property owner property to build it. Apparently the neighbor did not want to cooperate, the conversation degenerated into an argument, and the new property owner (familiar with the law) demanded that his neighbor pay half the cost. The man said he doesn’t have the money to pay, to which his new neighbor said (in effect), tough nooks. Then the township trustee and Senator Stoops got involved, the Bloomington Herald-Times did a story, and now the Senator has introduced the bill.