For all of us hooligans who were at the Ft Macomb Boat Ramp, I thought I'd share my research. I spoke with Sheriff Brian Lamb of Lafayette County about the encounter with Deputy Stutts. Lamb initially said the area was state AND county owned by cooperative agreement, so FWC would have come out and given everyone a citation but he just had his Deputy go give us all a warning instead (like he was doing us a favor). When I stopped him there and informed him that FWC only has an agreement about the boat ramp and not the parking lots or property around the ramp, so they do not have enforcement authority anywhere there except on the water and the ramp itself, he had his clerk take my number so he could call me back. A few hours later he did, and as we moved through the discussion about why many folks were 'Detained' and ID'ed, it was established that:
#1. We were not Trespassing on county property cause it is public access AND there was no 'proper notice' as required by law prohibiting detecting or 'digging' (i reminded him some fisherman getting worms or campers having a fire cause more damage, so the area could not be considered untouchable).
#2. Deputy Stutts did not attempt to ascertain if any damage had been done by our 'digging', so there was no Trespassing due to 'Destruction' of property.
#3. Laws concerning restrictions about digging on state land do not apply, since it is not state land (only boat ramp is).
#4. Wetlands, tidal areas, waterways, historical sites, archeological sites, etc... restrictions do not apply because it is none of those.
#5. A detention would be illegal as part of a "Trespass Warning' anyway, because you are not committing Trespass under this circumstance UNLESS you refuse to leave.
To justify the detention, he admitted the son of the property owner next to the camping area complained that some of 'us' had been on his land and were told to leave.
He also insisted that permission had to be granted to MD in Lafayette Co by the Commissioners, so that was the basis of the Trespass Warning (although he provided no ordinance info and nothing is available on the Net OR in the paperwork you must fill out with the County Clerk to 'camp' at that location).
The Deputy obtained ID's as part of the Trespass Warning because of the property owner's (son's) complaint, in case there were any need for that information and as part of his report.
This situation is very iffy, and their justification might not stand up in court, if it came to that (sue for Unlawful Detention), but on the surface it sounds okay and they will fall back on good faith, etc...which would probably be rubber-stamped by a Circuit Court, then possibly over-turned by Appellate Court.
The Trespass Laws are different for Public, as opposed to Private Property, but since the complainant's property was not properly marked (either) and they probably could not identify the (supposed) offenders, you'd have a pretty good case......... but probably not one that's worth pursuing.........
Anyway, Sheriff Lamb apologized for the 'misunderstanding' and didn't argue that D. Stutts' procedure was poor, in that he did not advise for what reason people were being detained and his excuse for ID'ing folks was not strictly legal. Lamb offered to obtain permission from the County Commissioners for us to hunt county property and to help find private properties to hunt if we want to come back to Lafayette County.........
He seemed like a decent guy who was trying to protect his officer and department. And since this was a relatively minor incident, I'm inclined to cut him some slack. I don't imagine he expected to take grief from an outside source, much less a retired cop, but maybe this will be a wake-up call that folks won't just stand by while LEOs play fast and loose with their 14th and 4th Amendment rights in his jurisdiction.........
