Box Elder fencing ordinance stands

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Box Elder County will remain a fence-out county -- for now, at least. County commissioners tabled the repeal of the current fencing ordinance, which says those who want to keep livestock off property must fence the animals out. At a Dec. 2 work session, the commissioners considered a recommendation from the planning commission to repeal the current fencing ordinance and pass a livestock trespass ordinance. If the current ordinance is repealed, the county would default to state law, which does not specify whether animals must be fenced in or out, but says livestock owners are responsible for damage their animals cause on someone else's property. Ranchers argue that, by putting responsibility for damages on livestock owners, the county is effectively creating a fence-in law. The recommended livestock trespass ordinance would allow the sheriff's office to issue a class C misdemeanor citation to people who are repeatedly causing problems by not controlling animals. At Tuesday's commission meeting, Commissioner Clark Davis made a motion to repeal the ordinance but did not have a second, so the motion was tabled....