Are you allowed to detect in Texas city parks?

[jimb]

Well the title says it all. Can you detect in a Texas city park with out breaking the law or being kicked out?

 

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[Monty]

I am guessing it would vary from city to city. My daughter and family lives in Pflugerville, just north of Austin and it is Ok. I have heard there are some restrictions in Austin. Austin it seems is the liberal capital of Texas and seems weird to me at the very least considering the mostly conservative people I have met inTexas. Monty

P.S. This is not meant to be a political announcement.

 

[Jeep]

I detect all over.

I have been told about problems in Austin, San Antonio and Houston but I have never had any problems

Maybe its because I always wear a dayglow orange vest and a hardhat with some ID I made on the computer hanging off the vest.

Gotta trace those lines

 

[Monty]

Guess what I been doing in my down time Jeep? Tee hee, have it but haven't had a chance to try it out yet! M nty

 

[Jeep]

What have YOU been doing in your down time Monty?

 

[toenail]

i really wasnt sure to call when i wondered that same thing so just to play it safe i called my local county commissioner who then referred me to parks and recreation, contacted them and spoke with the woman in charge and she said there there arent any local laws regarding metal detecting so i just assured her that i wouldnt be making a mess and any trash i discover i would throw away and i wouldnt leave any holes to where kids my trip over while having a family day.. she was really cool about the whole thing just didnt want me digging too deep because she didnt want to be held responsible if i hit any underground power lines and things like that.. to answer you question it seems like that a city to city type of thing

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

I live in Pflugerville as well. I tried detecting in some of Austin parks after calling the parks and recreation division, (about a year and a half ago), and no one seemed to have a correct answer, it seems one said there was no law, one said I needed a permit, and one said that no detecting was allowed. So what did I do?

I went to a park that had volly ball court set up and I was detecting the sand pits of the court. I had a park supervisor come to me and told me metal detecting was not allowed in the park. Now the park had rules posted and one of them that wasn't on the rule list was metal detecting. I explained to him that I called the parks and recreation and they said it was ok. The guy was an ass and told me it was not legal and he explained that he would call the police and have them come out and I would find out then.

So I just packed my stuff and left.

I called the parks and recreation department on the next day and explained if it was legal to metal detect the city parks and of course. I had one schmo pass me to another schmo who gave different answers as stated before. So I haven't been out to Austin to detect.

I have detected in Pflugerville but the ground here is so freaken hard I need a jackhammer to penitrate the first 1/2 inch of soil and a backhoe for the rest further down, so I pretty much don't detect at all because of it!

I would love to go to some areas to hunt but I prefer to go along with someone who has some good experience on where to go, but I haven't found anyone yet.

I have a Garrett GTI 2500 with the Eagle Eye 2 box. I would love to find some old homes and see about hitting them, but the ones I have found are abandoned and few are abandoned long ago and no one lives there or near it and don't know whom the owners would be to get permission. These homes around the Manor all the way to Llano area are homes of late 1800's to early 1900's that nobody lives in anymore.

I could go ahead and detect, but I prefer to get permission, Texas still has the law on the books that you can be shot for trespassing, or if someone thinks you are stealing something that doesn't belong to you!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

I prefer to get permission, Texas still has the law on the books that you can be shot for trespassing, ......

Trespassing in a park? How do you figure? Why would you be guilty of trespassing by being in a park? People in parks are not "trespassing". Perhaps by metal detecting you might run afoul of something else ("alterations" or "defacement" and so forth), but no, not "trespassing".

As for your situation of finding various answers depending on whom you ask in city hall, this is not un-common. Odds are, there really is no rule *specifically* saying "no metal detecting" in Austin parks. So depending on what desk-bound clerk you ask, and their mood that day, and how they envision your question, and how you phrase it, will dictate their answer. For example: maybe one person thinks you'll harm earthworms, or leave craters. So they say "no" (mind you, that person probably perhaps would never have noticed, nor have ever given the matter thought before). While the next person might say "I don't see why not, go have a ball" (because they are in a good mood, and envision that you'll leave no traces, etc...).

So if you ask me, I do NOT leave it up to the arbitrary whims of desk-bound clerks, to go begging them to tell me an arbitrary "no". I look things up for myself (city websites usually have the charter and laws and codes of each city). If I see nothing specifically prohibiting detecting, then I see no more need to "ask permission", than I would to ask permission to fly a frisbee. If it's not dis-allowed, then it's not disallowed.

As for your followup episode of being accosted (even though you'd gotten at least one "yes" at city hall), this also is not uncommon. In fact, some have even gone so far as to have their permission in writing from some city hall person. Yet once out in the field, they STILL got flack from some cop or gardener! The md'r proudly whips out his permission to show the busy-body. The cop or gardener merely gets on his cell phone, calls down to city hall and says "well I don't like it, he's tearing the place up" (even though that's not true), and guess what happens to your "permission"?

So the best bet is to be a little discreet, and avoid such busy-bodies. If it's park maintenance day at one particular park, go hunt somewhere else that day. If you see busy-bodies studying you, don't be in the middle of a deep retrieval. I mean, it's gotten to where I simply hunt parks only after 5pm, or even at nights, JUST to avoid someone who might make connotations. Out of sight is out of mind. Just like nose-picking: sometimes you just got to be a little discreet. But sure: if you ask someone, "can I pick my nose?" of course they're going to say "no".

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Trespassing in a park? How do you figure? Why would you be guilty of trespassing by being in a park? People in parks are not "trespassing". Perhaps by metal detecting you might run afoul of something else ("alterations" or "defacement" and so forth), but no, not "trespassing".

If you READ the paragraph above what I wrote you will see I was talking about old homesteads.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

oops, I see what you're saying. I read about you park experience, and failed to see you switched gears/topics to private homesteads. Sorry 'bout that.

 

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[pkb]

La Port has some funky laws. Permit only, Thursdays only at certain beaches.

 

[rjsupersonic]

Every jurisdiction has their own rules/ordinances. Last I heard you need a permit for the city of San Antonio. I have hunted parks all over Texas and never had a problem.

 

[Produce Guy]

I've detected in some of the bigger city parks that have mountain bike trails and less foot traffic and haven't had any problems.I have even had mntn, bikers ask me if I can find something of their's that has fallen off their bikes.