Permits & Ordinances
No. Jacksonville, Texas does not require a permit to remove a tree on private property, checked against the city’s own Code of Ordinances on September 28, 2026. But “no permit” is not “no rules”: the code still says how low branches can hang over a street, what stays clear at an intersection, what you can burn, and what the city picks up at the curb. Here it is in one place, plus the towns around Cherokee County.
Start Here
Inside Jacksonville, TX, you can take down a tree on your own lot, of any size and species, healthy or dead, without applying to the city for anything. The Code of Ordinances has no tree-preservation article, no heritage- or specimen-tree list, and no removal-permit section. We read every chapter that mentions a tree, and none of them sets one up. What the code does regulate is the effect of your trees on public property: the street, the alley, the sidewalk and the intersection. Those rules are below, with section numbers. Rules change, so treat this page as a map rather than a ruling, and confirm with City Hall before a saw starts. We check the current text as part of every estimate.
City of Jacksonville — the three that still apply
1. The 12-foot overhang rule (§ 9-13, § 19-271). Any tree, limb or brush that overhangs a public place (a street, alley, sidewalk or other public way) lower than 12 ft above the ground is a nuisance under § 9-13, adopted by Ord. 1647 on December 13, 2022. The owner has to abate it, and the cuttings cannot be left on the public place. § 19-271 in the traffic chapter repeats the same 12-ft clearance over streets and alleys. If an owner does not act, § 9-14 lets the city abate the nuisance itself and bill the owner. This is the rule Jacksonville homeowners run into most: a post oak or sweetgum along the curb whose lowest limbs have crept down toward truck-cab height.
2. The intersection sight triangle (§ 19-269, § 19-270). The city’s 1965 visibility-triangle ordinance keeps corners clear so drivers can see cross traffic. Inside the triangle, plantings can be no taller than 4 ft, and tree branches no lower than 8 ft above the gutter line. A corner-lot shrub row or a low-crowned ornamental is the usual problem, and trimming fixes it.
3. Outdoor burning (§ 7-126). You may burn trees and brush only on a lot of 2 acres or more, only material 9 in. in diameter or less generated on that property, in daylight, at least 300 ft from any structure, attended, with the wind cooperating. On a typical in-town lot burning is off the table, so everything a removal produces leaves with the crew or goes to the curb under the pickup rules below.
Official source: library.municode.com/tx/jacksonville (Code of Ordinances, Chapters 7, 9 and 19).
§ 9-1 and § 9-39
The code defines “brush” for city collection as trimmings and trees 8 in. or less in diameter, cut to lengths of 3 ft or less and tied in bundles (§ 9-1). Anything larger, including trunk sections from a real removal, does not qualify as brush and is not a regular-collection item.
For bigger loads, § 9-39 gives two routes: opt into the bulky and brush service for $5 per month, or request a special pickup priced by the load, a tree and vegetation load at $35, a pickup-truck load at $45, a dump-truck load at $65. The limit is 10 cubic yards per week, stacked at the curb away from utility poles, meters and overhead lines. One large tree often exceeds that in a week, which is why our estimates include haul-off by default.
| City brush route (§ 9-39) | Fee |
|---|---|
| Bulky and brush service (opt-in) | $5 per month |
| Special pickup: tree and vegetation load | $35 |
| Special pickup: pickup-truck load | $45 |
| Special pickup: dump-truck load | $65 |
Cherokee, Smith, Anderson & Henderson counties
| Town | Tree-removal permit on a home lot? | What we found | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullard (Cherokee/Smith) | No permit found. | Code on Municode. A standard Weeds and Vegetation nuisance article (Ch. 10, Art. IV) and no tree-permit provisions. | Overgrown lots and dead vegetation are a nuisance matter, not a permit matter. |
| Rusk (Cherokee, county seat) | Unverified. | Listed on Municode, but the code did not load on the verification date. | Call Rusk City Hall before removing a large tree. |
| Palestine (Anderson) | No permit found by heading. | Code on Municode; no tree-permit article in the table of contents. Not read section by section. | Confirm with Palestine’s development office. |
| Alto, Frankston, Troup, Whitehouse, New Summerfield, Chandler, Arp, Berryville, Wells, Reklaw, Cuney, Gallatin | Not verified. | These towns do not publish their codes on Municode. | Call the city or town office before you cut; most will tell you in one phone call. |
| Mount Selman, Flint, Neches (unincorporated) | No city code applies. | Census-designated places, no municipal government. | Subdivision covenants, if any, are the only rules. |
Outside the city limits
Cherokee County has no county-level tree rules. Texas counties generally cannot regulate tree removal outside platted subdivisions, so a rural lot between Jacksonville and Rusk, or out toward Lake Jacksonville, answers only to state law, your deed restrictions and any HOA covenants. The § 7-126 burn rule is a city ordinance; outside the limits, check the county’s current burn-ban status before lighting anything.
Our Part
No. The city has no tree-removal permit for private property, and the tree's condition does not change that. A dead pine leaning over a street is, if anything, a nuisance you are expected to abate under § 9-13, so waiting is the one thing that can cost you.
The utility. § 16½-23 requires utility and network providers to give the city manager written notice before trimming trees in the right-of-way, so the lines along the street are their job. Trees on your side of the service drop are yours, and we do not work within reach of an energized line without the utility involved.
Nothing. There is no permit and no notice requirement for a private-lot removal in Jacksonville, TX. Photograph the damage for your insurer, stay clear of anything touching a line, and call. Debris that qualifies as brush under § 9-1 can go to the curb; trunk sections cannot, and we haul them.
Jacksonville, TX Code of Ordinances: § 7-126 (outdoor burning); § 9-1 (definition of brush); § 9-13 and § 9-14 (overhanging trees as a nuisance; city abatement and billing); § 9-39 (bulky and brush collection fees); § 16½-23 (right-of-way notice by providers); § 19-269, § 19-270 and § 19-271 (visibility triangle; street and alley clearance). Verified 2026-09-28 against the codified text (supplement through Ord. 1685, 2025-03-11). Bullard: Code of Ordinances Ch. 10, Art. IV, verified 2026-09-28. Rusk and the remaining towns: not verified; see the table.
Re-verify yearly: next check due September 2027, or sooner if the city adopts a tree ordinance.
No permit is needed in Jacksonville, TX, but we confirm the street-side rules and the current code as part of a free on-site estimate.
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