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Williamson County, TN Parks

MidTN

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
359
Location
Tennessee
Checked with the county park director about metal detecting near ball fields. He said metal detecting was not allowed on parks property. I asked him if there was an ordinance not allowing people to hunt. He said he was not aware of one, it's just their rule. He did say anything found on parks property belongs to the county according to the county attorney.
 
My city and county have their ordinances online for anybody to read. Public employees just simply can't make up "rules"...they are not dictators. Ordinances and laws have to be proposed, discussed, and passed, so the people in charge have accountability to the people that pay their salaries...and one of those people is you.


I'd go peruse the county website and find the ordinances/laws/etc. and search them for "digging", "metal detector", etc. And then--depending on what you find--either go do what you enjoy or not.

For an example, there is an almost 60-acre soccer complex and equestrian center not far from my house. There is 6' chain link fence around the entire thing, with several walk-through gates. Beside every entrance, there are very large white signs with red lettering that states that the place is managed by the Futbol Club of NW Florida and that all activities must be approved by the club. There are restrictions about all kinds of random !!!!.

I can clearly see on the county GIS map that my county owns the land. So, 3-4 months ago, I was a bit cautious when I first started beeping the place. Nope, I never asked permission...didn't even think about it, because my tax dollars can't be used on valuable acreage to benefit some private organization. Scrooge that. So I get up in the morning at 4 am on the weekdays and go beep until I have to get home and work. I beep on Sunday and my days off as long as I want. Nobody has ever said a thing to me, and I dare them to. And I've been in the middle of the soccer fields when there were hundreds of people there (on other soccer fields, obviously).

Not far from that complex, there is a baseball complex that has 15 or so baseball fields. Same thing, owned by the county, so I go whenever I want. I don't make a mess and I take my trash. In the 7 months or so that I've been beeping, just out of those two complexes, I've founds thousands of coins, many pieces of jewelry (rings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, charms), and some cool stuff. Neither place is older than 20-25 years.

My point is that asking some territorial jackwagon questions about his fiefdom is a guaranteed fail. Find the laws and/or ordinances. Read them, learn them, be able to recite them (or print out the pertinent sections and carry them). As long as you aren't littering or leaving plugs laying around or making some other kind of mess, you are using the public property for recreation, just like everybody else. I mean, don't be a sphincter about defending yourself, because I've been arrested more than once in my life for emphatically defending my rights...which taught me that you can be arrested for anything or nothing. You may be correct in the law, which will set you free...later. Jail sucks.

Go have fun and happy hunting. Hope you find something awesome!

Oh, BTW. That park director is full of bullsqueeze. So, if somebody leaves their purse/wallet/bike/car/whatever on parks property, all of that stuff is then the property of the county? Yeah, no. Telling you, petty apparatchiks are idiots. Ignore that nonsense and go find the law and read it.
 
Wouldn't even cross my mind to ask for permission to go to a city or county owned park. Are you planning on vandalizing the place, or what? Just go. Search it. Dont cause any damage. Act like you own the place. You pay taxes, right?
 
OK, I'm worried. >4 hours have passed and Tom hasn't weighed in with an admonishment.




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I'm in TN, different part but I never ask to hunt public property, especially a park. If they have signs posted then I don't, otherwise its open season.
 
I agree about county property hunt it responsibly but don't ask permission. Be friendly to the grounds keepers. Unless of course the county puts up specific signs about no metal detecting.

The exception is baseball fields. Those in my county are manicured. Plus all my county baseball fields are under lock and key.
 
Where is the proof, notice, statute, legal or non legal form? Just print a paper that says it is illegal to harass senior's and if you are not a senior tell them your going to be one. Besides you shouldn't have ask in the first place. Don't pull the dog's tail and the want get bite. Don't pee into the wind and you want get wet. When they come up with a manifesto that forbids detecting, then ask for the authors name address and telephone number. If they want give it to you then go and hunt anyway. No proof then your harassing a wanta be senior or senior. Just go for it and if the cops show up tell them you have sometimers. Besides I can't read, write, or speak English because I'm a hillbilly living in Florida. And don't forget the senior citizen part.
Sorry I couldn't help myself, cause I'm a senior citizen. :?::lol:
 
OK, I'm worried. >4 hours have passed and Tom hasn't weighed in with an admonishment.




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HAHAHAH!!! That's priceless. :)

That being said, he's a great advocate for informing people what their actual rights are, and how pressing a park employee for a rule isn't likely to EVER get you what you want.. (and even if it does, it doesn't mean jack, if there's an ordinance/law)
 
Haha, I see my name mentioned several times. :/

Yes: mid-TN is the latest victim of the "No one cared till you asked " psychology phenomenon. Then once you ask..... sure.... some desk jockey is sure to get images of geeks with shovels, in his mind.

As far as everything on County Land belonging to the county : the same can be said for any Speck of public land under any jurisdiction or entity. Which is exactly why everyone of us turns in their pennies dimes and quarters to the appropriate government agency, right? :roll:

Again, it's the "pressing question" gets " no one cared to till you asked" psychology applied to it.
 
Follow Up

I went to a park this morning and two park employees showed up and I thought great they are going to ask me to leave. They asked if I found anything yet and wanted to know about my MX Sport. Showed them what I could see on my screen and they said hope I find some good stuff and left with no problems.
 
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