Title XLVII, Boundaries, Fences and Common Fields

I. Any person who purposely commits or causes to be committed any of the following acts with regard to a boundary marker knowing it to be a boundary marker shall be guilty of a misdemeanor: defacement, alteration of location, or removal of a stone wall or monument, or a mark on a…

The owners of adjoining lands under improvement shall build and repair the partition fence between them in equal shares.

The person so building or repairing may demand and recover double the appraised value thereof of the delinquent party, with costs of suit, in an action of assumpsit.

The owner of improved land adjoining unimproved land of another, having erected a division fence, may demand and recover of the owner of such adjoining land, whenever he begins to improve the same, the value of such part of the fence as upon a division then or previously made it …

If after a division of fence made or established between adjoining owners a new division for any cause shall become necessary, then either party who has maintained any part of the fence under the former division may demand and recover of the owner of the adjoining land at the tim…

In such case, if the parties do not agree, the fence-viewers, on application, shall appraise such part, and the party may recover the value appraised or agreed in an action of assumpsit for so much fence sold, if the same is not paid in 30 days after demand.

If the owner of land ceases to improve it, or lays it in common, and gives notice thereof in writing to the adjoining owner, if known, or files such notice with the town clerk if the adjoining owner is unknown, he shall not be bound to repair his part of the division fence, after…

The party neglecting to build or keep in repair any partition fence which he is bound to maintain is liable for damages arising from such neglect, and shall have no remedy for damages happening to himself therefrom.

The actual occupant of land shall be deemed the owner thereof for any of the purposes of this chapter.

Every application to the fence-viewers shall be in writing, and one application may embrace so many subjects as from the nature of the case may be acted upon at one meeting.

The fence-viewers shall give notice in writing to the other party interested therein of every application, and of the time and place for considering the same; shall hear the parties, if they attend, and their evidence; and shall make their decision in writing and cause a copy the…

The decision of the fence-viewers, upon their being sworn that they have acted impartially, uprightly and to the best of their judgment, shall be final and conclusive upon the parties.

Any division of such fence, made by the parties in writing and recorded in the town records, shall be binding upon the parties and all succeeding owners and occupants of the land.

If the fence in controversy is situate on the line of 2 towns, the application shall be made to the fence-viewers of the town in which the parties reside; if they reside in different towns, it shall be made to the fence-viewers of that town in which the applicant does not reside.

Any fence-viewer neglecting without sufficient cause to attend and perform any official duty shall be guilty of a violation.

The fence-viewers shall be paid $2 a day each for services by the party making the application, who may recover 1/2 thereof from the other party, unless the fence-viewers otherwise apportion the costs, but, in case of neglect by such other party to make or repair the part of the …

Such division may be established by usage and acquiescence of the parties, and those under whom they claim, for 20 years.

If the parties do not agree upon a division, or a division has not been established by usage and acquiescence, the fence-viewers, upon application, shall make division, which, being recorded in the town records, shall be of the same force as a division made by the parties; and a …

All fences of such height as to be reasonably adequate for their purpose and in good repair, consisting of rails, timber, boards or stone wall, barbed, electrified or woven wire, and all brooks, rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches, hedges and other things deemed by the fence-viewers t…

The fence-viewers, upon application of either party, shall view any fence alleged to be insufficient, and, if they judge it to be so, shall give notice to the delinquent party to build or repair the same within a time by them limited.

The fence-viewers, upon application of either party, shall view any brook, river, pond, creek or ditch alleged not to be equivalent to a legal and sufficient fence, and, if they judge it to be not so equivalent, shall make a division of the fence, and, if it is impracticable to b…

If either party, notified as provided in RSA 473:6 or 473:7, shall not build or repair his part of such fence within the time limited, the other party may build it.

The fence-viewers, upon application, shall view any fence built or repaired as provided in RSA 473:8, and if they judge the same and the residue of the fence between the same owners upon the same tract of land to be sufficient, they shall appraise the fence so built or the repair…

The actual occupant of land shall be deemed the owner thereof for any purposes of this chapter.

When several owners of land agree to improve the same in one common field, any justice, on application of 2 or more owners, may call a meeting of such owners, and the majority of them, when met, may determine in what manner the common field shall be fenced.

The owners may assign to each owner the share of fence to be erected and maintained by him, and, such assignment being recorded in the town records, he and all succeeding occupants of his land shall be liable in relation thereto as if the same were a partition fence between his o…

Such owners may adopt bylaws for building and maintaining their common fence by a tax, and their officers, chosen in conformity to such bylaws, may assess and collect such taxes.

Owners of adjoining improved lands where there is no partition fence shall, once in every 5 years, run the lines and renew the bounds between them, and any such owner neglecting without sufficient excuse to attend and renew the bounds, upon 6 days' previous notice given by any ot…

The actual occupant of land shall be deemed the owner thereof for any purposes of this chapter.

The mayor and aldermen of any city or the selectmen of any town may require the owner or user of any canal or waterway within such city or town deemed by them to be dangerous to travelers upon any highway, or to children of tender age, to fence the same.

If the owner or user does not fence the same within 60 days after receiving notice in writing of such requirement, the mayor and aldermen or selectmen shall cause the same to be fenced, and may collect the expense of so doing from the owner or user in an action of assumpsit.

Any fence or other structure in the nature of a fence, unnecessarily exceeding 5 feet in height, erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property shall be deemed a private nuisance.

Any owner or occupant injured either in his comfort or the enjoyment of his estate by such nuisance may have an action on the case for the damage sustained thereby.

If the plaintiff recovers judgment in the action, the defendant shall cause the removal of the nuisance within 30 days from the date of the judgment, and for each day he shall permit the nuisance to remain after the expiration of said 30 days, he shall incur a penalty of $10 for …