county courthouse

[Rockin Chairs Gold]

That's what I thought as well till this spring my wife goes and calls our newly elected Sherriff and asks the $64000 question and much to my suprise the answer was sure go ahead. Haven't found much yet but I've hunted less then 2 hours because of all the rain here locally this spring. The court house goes back to 1853 so I'm sure there are some goodies there to be found. Rick
[/quote]

I would like to add the following information to this post. The reason I was so surprised we were given permission is about 7 years ago a group of young folks decided to through a booze and pot party on the court house lawn. They not only made one hell of a mess but they managed to distroy a brand new $25,000 Abraham Lincoln Bronze statue and plaque. This little venture not only stopped all loitering on the court house lawn, but put a curfew from 6:PM to 6:AM seven days a week.

I figured getting permission to hunt and dig on the court house lawn was a dead issue, not worth even bringing up. My wife and I was up there in April to pay our property tax's and my wife brings up the subject to the County Court House door guard ( A County Deputy) if there was any chance we might get permission. He said that with the sheriff that just went out that answer would have been no but we were getting a new Sheriff and it wouldn't hurt to ask.

As I said I was shocked he said sure go ahead. I spoke to him about letting them know when we would be up there and he said to just let the door guard know we would be there. We spoke to the door guard about Saturday and Sundays and he said to go ahead and if anyone said anything to have them contact the Sheriff or him. So far there has been nothing said to us except to ask if we are finding anything.

I guess that even in the worst of situations not all is hopeless. Rick

 

[mick56]

The courthouse in my town is built on the same spot the original courthouse was built. I detected it a few years ago on a weekend, found a few wheaties along the sidewalk where the parking meters used to be. The sheriffs dept is connected to the courthouse, and no one bothered me while I was there.

 

[JABBERWOCKY]

I'm loving this topic! Every time I drive by my local courthouse I daydream of the possibilities.
It is the third courthouse built on the site, the first built 1829.
I think I'll give it a go this weekend, I'll post how it goes.......unless arrested
then the wife will post a fund raising for my bond .
HH!!!!

 

[savant365]

I'm loving this topic! Every time I drive by my local courthouse I daydream of the possibilities.
It is the third courthouse built on the site, the first built 1829.
I think I'll give it a go this weekend, I'll post how it goes.......unless arrested
then the wife will post a fund raising for my bond .
HH!!!!

I'll dotane a few dug zincolns if ya need 'em, LOL.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

jabberwocky, yes this is an interesting topic to me too. Having come from the mid 1970s evolution of this (when there was few, if any laws, on this type thing) to the present time.

Rockin-chairs, Don't take this wrong. I'm glad you got such a green light. I would add to your situation, the following:

a) I would point out the inherent pyschology that people often take from your situation (perhaps you took it from your own situation) is that when they get a "yes" answer, they often presume that ......... therefore ..... permission was needed to begin with. I mean, what was the alternative? Did you really think the clerk might say: "That's silly. You don't need my permission. Why are you asking me?" No. Of course not. They will usually bestow on you their princely "yes" or "no" Rarely does someone respond by saying "gee why are you asking me this question?"

Or contrarily, if they say "no", you might be inclined to think "gee it's a good thing I asked, otherwise I might have been arrested"! Again the implication of the "yes" or the "no" simply implies to the hearer that they needed to ask, to begin with (lest why else would you have gotten the answer??)

b) I would be dubious of any "yes" that someone gets. Because it's also common to read about how these "yes's" are quickly yanked, the minute some passerby, gardener, cop, etc... gets on his phone and complains that (in his opinion) you're leaving marks, making holes, etc...... I mean, seriously: when you talked to that Sheriff, did you use the word "dig" and "holes", etc...? or did you use the euphamism "metal detecting"?

To the degree that sometimes it *is* possible to get blanket permission to dig holes in turf in some park, that stands up to all scrutiny from busy-bodies, I would still say it's risky. Because the alternative is to get a "no". And then guess what happens when that same deskbound bureaucrat (who may never have noticed, nor ever have cared or given the matter thought), sees another md'r out there? He'll remember the earlier inquiry, and start booting others! I've seen that happen before, in my own locale. So I'm happy when that's not the case (as in yours), but ..... just offering a word of caution. :P

 

[Demon_Wolf]

Kentucky cache, why would the county lawn, surrounding a courthouse, be any different than any other county maintained parks in that county? Isn't it simply just a county park (albeit around the county's central courthouse)? I've detected county courthouse lawns, and they're a park, just like any other park. Ie.: benches, fountains, trees, lawns, etc..... Why would these parks be any different than any other park?

Hello I live in Minnesota and asked about the courthouse lawn on day and I was told this. The Courthouse is not county land it is state land and metal detecting on state land is prohibited in Minnesota. Every state will be different. In Minnesota you cannot detect in state parks not even the beaches but In South Dakota you can detect in state parks with permission from the park rangers.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Demon-wolf, I don't doubt you can find such an answer, as you received, by trolling through enough hallways of enough public offices. That is, I too could probably find such an answer (ie.: "no"), if I asked long enough, and hard enough, at even the most innocuous of public city sand boxes. I can, for example, tell you of city, county, state, fed, etc... locations where they were just routinely detected, and no one ever cared. Till the day someone took it upon themselves to go ask, and someone tells them "no"

And oddly, when I type something like this out (ie.: just go till told otherwise admonition), people will read such a suggestion, and post the very type things you did: "I asked, and they said no", as a repudiation for simply helping oneself. But this fails to realize that oftentime no one cares UNTIL you ask. (ie.: they must "address your pressing question"). And sadly, what happens then is, those same deskbound bureaucrats, when they see another md'r (whom they perhaps previously would never have paid second mind to), will see an md'r, and think "aha, there's one of them", and start booting others.

 

[mlayers]

I live in Ohio and I have detected our courthouse yard a dz time. The police would stop and ask if I have found anything. I have found plenty of old coins and rings there. Good luck.......Matt

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Some places will take your machines, and maybe even worse, believe it or not. And that's why I like to ask.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Kentucky Kache, please cite for us an incident of someone having their machine taken from them. I would be curious to know.

I have a hunch that any such incident is someone who couldn't take a warning, or ignored posted signs, or was night-sneaking obvious historic monuments, etc.... Not someone hunting a run-of-the-mill park, beach, sandbox, etc.....

 

[mamabear]

OK Baldingboy, shall we hit the courthouse

 

[Ground Inspector]

Courthouse are good. I have detected over 30 different courthouses and only been kicked out of a couple. Many times the grounds keeper or sheriff will come by to see what we are doing and see that we are doing nothing wrong and filling in our holes and let us continue detecting. I have found many great and old coins from courthouse yards especially since they are highly concentrated. the main question is whether or not you can detect courthouses on the national historic register. However most are and in that case asking for permission is a wise choice. Another option, which I prefer is detecting on the weekend when the courthouse is closed.

 

[ticm]

The court house that I want to hunt near me is a place that will produce untold good finds. In my case I want cops to be there. I would most likely get mugged with in moments by some scum gang member.