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Senate Agriculture Committee sends 'Free the Chicken' bill to the floor with due pass recommendation
Summary
The Idaho Senate Agriculture Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1026 — which would prevent homeowners associations from outright banning backyard chickens (with limits and reasonable coop rules) — to the full Senate with a due pass recommendation. The bill does not change city or county poultry regulations or agricultural zoning.
Senate Bill 1026, a measure proponents called the “Free the Chicken Bill,” was sent to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation after testimony and public comment during the Idaho Senate Agriculture Committee meeting.
Senator Tammy Nichols (R-10), who presented the bill, said it is intended to protect homeowners’ property rights by preventing homeowners associations (HOAs) from imposing blanket bans on keeping a modest number of backyard chickens. “This bill ensures that homeowners and HOAs have the same rights as those not governed by HOAs to own a limited number of backyard chickens,” Nichols said. The bill would allow up to four hens per 0.2 acre, permit HOAs to set reasonable rules (coop placement, waste management, and prohibiting roosters) and would not override city, county, or agricultural-zone rules.
Nichols framed the proposal as a property-rights and food-security measure, citing higher egg prices and the growth in backyard poultry ownership. She also presented a definitional trailer bill drafted to clarify “small-scale livestock” (intended to cover noncommercial, limited personal or educational ownership of species such as poultry, rabbits, bees and miniature livestock) but emphasized the primary bill applies only to chickens.
Three people testified in support. Scott Rarick, a Rupert homeowner, told the committee his subdivision’s covenants currently ban poultry and said the bill would give residents leverage to change restrictive CC&Rs that are hard to amend locally. Brian Ullman, an Eagle homeowner, described the procedural hurdles his HOA imposes for amending covenants and said he views the bill as an easier path to allow chickens where residents want them. Both speakers described benefits such as pest control, garden fertilizer and lower household grocery costs.
Senator John Taylor opposed the bill in committee debate, arguing it goes beyond chickens and could weaken the expectations of people who join HOAs for a particular neighborhood aesthetic. Nichols and other supporters repeatedly said the text of SB 1026 applies only to chickens and leaves local government poultry ordinances in place.
Senator Kohl moved to send SB 1026 to the floor with a due pass recommendation; Senator Lakey seconded. The committee voice-voted in favor; the chair declared the motion carried and recorded Senator Taylor as a nay on the record.
If approved by the full Senate, the bill would change HOA authority but leave city and county poultry ordinances intact, per the bill text presented in committee.
