4-26-5 - Adjoining landowners -- Partition fences -- Contribution.
4-26-5. Adjoining landowners -- Partition fences -- Contribution.
If two or more persons agree to a fence enclosure or to the construction of a partitionfence, the cost of construction and maintenance of the fence shall be apportioned between eachparty to the agreement based upon the amount of land enclosed. A person who is a party to suchagreement and who fails to maintain such person's part of the fence is liable in a civil action forany damage sustained by another party to the agreement as a result of the failure to maintain thefence. If a person has enclosed land with a fence and the owner of adjoining land desires toenclose land adjoining the fence so that the existing fence or any part of it will become a partitionfence between such tracts of land, the owner of the adjoining land shall before making theenclosure pay to the owner of the existing fence one-half of the value of all that part of the fencethat will become a partition fence; and when one party ceases to improve or cultivate his land oropens his enclosure he may not take away any part of the partition fence belonging to him, if theowner or occupant of the adjoining enclosure within 30 days after notice, pays for the value ofsuch fence; nor shall the partition fence be removed if the crops enclosed by it will be exposed toinjury.
Amended by Chapter 378, 2010 General Session