Ok well some of you have to deal with your local code enforcement as in regards to the military hobby or our "junk". This is a spectrum as to how to approach it. Some will state. "No military trucks, equipment, or surplus shall be kept at a personal residence. Military surplus items can not be used by citizens for private use" Pretty broad and retarded. It even means a tent. Well the irritation part that you can cause your local code enforcement and judge is this. File for an appeal to a higher court. In small towns it will be their District or felony court. Same as most big cities. Some may take longer to process thru this step. Time is always on your side.
Most cities and towns have adopted the MUniCode. Municipal code system. It was written by some high class city person who i am sure get bothered by everything. The code for a lot of plates that pertains to military trucks as this "No heavy truck over 8,000lbs shall be stored or maintained at a residence except, consumer vehicles such as duallies, etc." Most of them consider it a commercial vehicle.
Heavy truck is defined as any truck over 8,000lbs by municode.
The loophole is this in the municode. it does not define "Consumer vehicle". The county clerk and other departments may have definitions of consumer vehicles but most do not. All states have a definition of it. Tennessee has it being "anything vehicle or truck owned by a private citizen for their own personal use"
So then once you are thru the lower court and filed your appeal then comes the jump thru the hoops of the appeal court. You do not need to hire an attorney for this. File your appeal and wait. it could be a year, no sense in paying money you do not have to. The other thing is this in circuit court the defendant is suppose to file notices of hearings and what not to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately under the federal law, no person appearing as a defendant in both criminal or civil hearings and litigation is required to initiate the prosecution against them" In other wards you don't have to bring yourself to justice. This is also a time of 12 to 36 months that allows you to keep your things at your home and they can't touch you versus 100 or so a month storage bills. If you paid for an appeal you paid for an appeal bond which bides you all the time from the court, attorney fees, fines, and annoying code enforcement officers.
If you are dealing with a county code issue and the city tries to get involved in its own thing you just tell em that the county has jurisdiction. ESPECIALLY if you have filed an appeal. it then becomes harassing partake if they are aware the matter is already in court. You can't be charged and sent thru the process by a lower jurisdictional court. It can be considered a harmful error to make you look bad to people. Especially on a jury. They just bring up that you have cases in both county and city code. blah blah blah. but should be throw out and disregarded.
My opinion and approach on the whole thing in circuit court at the jury trial is this: Code enforcement says it cant be there cause a "truck that big can't be personal use and its a commercial truck". Or it is over 8000lbs. The exception part is getting the state definition into the peoples minds. since you are being prosecuted by the state at the point and not just the county. The other thing is this. Having a State Trooper, a DOT rep, county clerk, and a department of revenue rep come as witnesses is a good bet. In the state of Tennessee a truck can be 79,000lbs and it can still not be a commercial vehicle. When the trooper, the DOT rep, and the dept of revenue rep all say its personal. and the county clerk how they title the 5 ton in particular as personal. The prosecutor will say that it isnt personal being that big and noone could practically drive that as a personal vehicle or RV or Camper. yet a law enforcement officer, the state department that governs commercial vehicles and tags, and the county clerk who issues the tags says it is personal. The jury is probably not going to understand why they are sitting in court when they do not have to be. Most people don't like nosy people. especially people who like to complain a lot. and everyone has that neighbor that thinks they should mind their own business. That is just human nature. Prosecutors will try to rebuke the officers and peoples statements by their own code but people value the opinion of neutral parties over a defense or prosecutor. In this case the State Employees testifying on the side of a defendant.
It is best to have Have several people testify that their trucks are personal, they can be campers, they can be antiques. Contact as many people as you can close and far to come give their statements. Depositions can be taken anywhere and can be taken anytime and used to help future efforts. Yes they may be complete strangers. But it helps for people to realize that it is a hobby and not just some crazy guy with an army truck in his driveway. This can and does effect all of us as well as people who have had previous problems with their code enforcement as this gives legal effect against the code people.
The issue the county and city has is that the people who complain do it without leaving their number or name. Well when the time comes for court it is just their inspector vs a defendant.
This is my rant and take it how you want but it is how you deal with the system. Take it to court, jump thru the hoops, appeal and go to a jury trial.
Most cities and towns have adopted the MUniCode. Municipal code system. It was written by some high class city person who i am sure get bothered by everything. The code for a lot of plates that pertains to military trucks as this "No heavy truck over 8,000lbs shall be stored or maintained at a residence except, consumer vehicles such as duallies, etc." Most of them consider it a commercial vehicle.
Heavy truck is defined as any truck over 8,000lbs by municode.
The loophole is this in the municode. it does not define "Consumer vehicle". The county clerk and other departments may have definitions of consumer vehicles but most do not. All states have a definition of it. Tennessee has it being "anything vehicle or truck owned by a private citizen for their own personal use"
So then once you are thru the lower court and filed your appeal then comes the jump thru the hoops of the appeal court. You do not need to hire an attorney for this. File your appeal and wait. it could be a year, no sense in paying money you do not have to. The other thing is this in circuit court the defendant is suppose to file notices of hearings and what not to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately under the federal law, no person appearing as a defendant in both criminal or civil hearings and litigation is required to initiate the prosecution against them" In other wards you don't have to bring yourself to justice. This is also a time of 12 to 36 months that allows you to keep your things at your home and they can't touch you versus 100 or so a month storage bills. If you paid for an appeal you paid for an appeal bond which bides you all the time from the court, attorney fees, fines, and annoying code enforcement officers.
If you are dealing with a county code issue and the city tries to get involved in its own thing you just tell em that the county has jurisdiction. ESPECIALLY if you have filed an appeal. it then becomes harassing partake if they are aware the matter is already in court. You can't be charged and sent thru the process by a lower jurisdictional court. It can be considered a harmful error to make you look bad to people. Especially on a jury. They just bring up that you have cases in both county and city code. blah blah blah. but should be throw out and disregarded.
My opinion and approach on the whole thing in circuit court at the jury trial is this: Code enforcement says it cant be there cause a "truck that big can't be personal use and its a commercial truck". Or it is over 8000lbs. The exception part is getting the state definition into the peoples minds. since you are being prosecuted by the state at the point and not just the county. The other thing is this. Having a State Trooper, a DOT rep, county clerk, and a department of revenue rep come as witnesses is a good bet. In the state of Tennessee a truck can be 79,000lbs and it can still not be a commercial vehicle. When the trooper, the DOT rep, and the dept of revenue rep all say its personal. and the county clerk how they title the 5 ton in particular as personal. The prosecutor will say that it isnt personal being that big and noone could practically drive that as a personal vehicle or RV or Camper. yet a law enforcement officer, the state department that governs commercial vehicles and tags, and the county clerk who issues the tags says it is personal. The jury is probably not going to understand why they are sitting in court when they do not have to be. Most people don't like nosy people. especially people who like to complain a lot. and everyone has that neighbor that thinks they should mind their own business. That is just human nature. Prosecutors will try to rebuke the officers and peoples statements by their own code but people value the opinion of neutral parties over a defense or prosecutor. In this case the State Employees testifying on the side of a defendant.
It is best to have Have several people testify that their trucks are personal, they can be campers, they can be antiques. Contact as many people as you can close and far to come give their statements. Depositions can be taken anywhere and can be taken anytime and used to help future efforts. Yes they may be complete strangers. But it helps for people to realize that it is a hobby and not just some crazy guy with an army truck in his driveway. This can and does effect all of us as well as people who have had previous problems with their code enforcement as this gives legal effect against the code people.
The issue the county and city has is that the people who complain do it without leaving their number or name. Well when the time comes for court it is just their inspector vs a defendant.
This is my rant and take it how you want but it is how you deal with the system. Take it to court, jump thru the hoops, appeal and go to a jury trial.
Last edited by a moderator:
