Is There a Burn Ban in Polk County, TX? Rules & Penalties

There is no active burn ban in Polk County, TX right now. The Polk County Commissioners Court rescinded its outdoor burning prohibition on March 20, 2026, so outdoor burning is allowed again, subject to the year-round state rules described below.¹ Because Polk County has no permanent ban and restrictions come and go with drought conditions — sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months — confirm the current status before lighting anything outside.

How to Confirm the Current Status

Call the Polk County Office of Emergency Management at 936-327-6826, extension 0. An automated recording gives the current status, so you don’t need to wait to speak with anyone. Online, the Office of Emergency Management site at polkcountyoem.com posts active orders, and the main Polk County website publishes signed orders as public notices.²

The Texas A&M Forest Service publishes a statewide map showing every county’s status. It’s useful if you’re moving between counties, because neighbors can be under different orders on the same day.³

What a Polk County Burn Ban Prohibits

When an order is in effect, it covers the unincorporated areas of Polk County — the rural land outside any city’s jurisdiction. The commissioners court can prohibit outdoor burning broadly or restrict specific materials, and each order is a standalone document.⁴

Most Polk County orders impose a general prohibition. That means no burning trash, brush piles, yard debris, or any other outdoor material, and no campfires or open recreational fires. The restrictions apply to everyone in the unincorporated area, no matter the acreage or the distance to a neighbor. Because scope can shift from one ban to the next, read the actual signed order rather than relying on what a previous ban covered.

What Stays Legal During a Ban

Texas law protects two categories of outdoor burning even when a county ban is active:

Burning authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for firefighter training, public utility or natural gas pipeline operations, mining operations, or planting and harvesting agricultural crops.
Burns conducted by a person holding a current Certified Prescribed Burn Manager credential under the Texas Natural Resources Code, carrying the required insurance, and meeting state standards.

These exemptions come from the statute itself, so the commissioners court doesn’t have to write them into the order.⁴ Certified prescribed burn managers still have to notify the commissioners court or county judge in writing beforehand, alert the county sheriff’s office and the Texas A&M Forest Service regional fire coordinator, and follow the Prescribed Burning Board’s burn/do-not-burn checklist. A Governor’s or Presidential disaster declaration that expressly prohibits all burning overrides even a certified manager’s authority.⁵

Grills and smokers are a common question, and the answer depends on the specific order. Many Texas county orders exempt contained cooking fires, but state law does not guarantee that exemption. Read the current order or call the Office of Emergency Management before firing up the pit.

Penalties for Burning Anyway

Violating a Polk County burn ban is a Class C misdemeanor.⁴ The maximum fine is $500.⁶ Each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, so a brush pile smoldering across a long weekend can turn into several $500 tickets.⁷

A Class C misdemeanor carries no jail time on its own, but the conviction appears on your Texas criminal record. Ignore the fine or miss court, and a judge can issue a warrant that does lead to arrest.

The statute also lets any person seek an injunction against someone violating or threatening to violate a ban. A neighbor doesn’t have to wait for a fire to spread; they can go to court to stop the burn before it starts.⁴

What Happens If Your Fire Escapes

The fine is the smallest cost of an illegal burn that gets away. Under Texas negligence law, you can be responsible for every dollar of damage to neighboring homes, land, livestock, fences, and timber. Burning during a declared ban makes the negligence case simple for the injured party: conditions were officially dangerous, and you burned anyway.

Wildfire losses can far exceed $500. One escaped fire can destroy structures, kill livestock, and burn through hundreds of acres of timber. Homeowner’s insurance policies often exclude or limit coverage for intentional acts, which can leave you personally on the hook for the full amount.

Rules That Apply Even Without a Ban

No ban does not mean no rules. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regulates outdoor burning statewide year-round. When Polk County has no active ban, outdoor burning still has to meet these requirements:

Burn outside incorporated city limits unless the city has an ordinance allowing it.
Start no earlier than one hour after sunrise and finish no later than one hour before sunset on the same day.
Only burn when wind speed is between 6 and 23 miles per hour. Calmer air lets smoke settle; stronger wind lets fire escape.
Stay at least 300 feet from any neighboring structure occupied by people, unless the neighbor gives written permission.
Keep a responsible person at the fire the whole time it is active.
Never burn treated lumber, plastics, electrical insulation, rubber, chemical wastes, or asphaltic materials, regardless of weather.

These TCEQ rules apply to every outdoor burn in the state, and breaking them is a separate matter from breaking a county burn ban.⁸

1
Polk County, TX. Polk County Burn Ban Rescinded – March 20, 2026
2
Polk County, TX. Fire Marshal – Section: Burn Ban Information
3
Texas A&M Forest Service. Burn Bans and Information
4
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 352.081 – Regulation of Outdoor Burning
5
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Certified Prescribed Burn Manager Commercial or Private
6
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.23 – Class C Misdemeanor
7
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 352 – Fire Protection
8
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Outdoor Burning in Texas RG-49