Judge: Mitchell County ordinance is constitutional
By By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 06/03/2010 9:23 AM
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OSAGE, Iowa — The Mitchell County Road Protection Ordinance, which bans the use of steel wheels on hard surface roads, is constitutional, a county magistrate ruled last week.
Magistrate DeDra Schroeder denied a motion to dismiss a citation issued to Matthew Zimmerman, 13, of Orchard for violating the ordinance. His attorney Colin Murphy argued the ordinance is unconstitutional because it prevents his client from exercising his religious beliefs. Zimmerman and his family are Old Order Groffdale Mennonites, and church rules prohibit them from using rubber tires on their tractors.
Schroeder found Zimmerman guilty of the violation at a March 5 trial.
Murphy plans to appeal to Schroeder's decision this week.
"This court does find that the use of steel wheels is a religious practice," Schroeder wrote. A member of the Old Order Groffdale Conference, testified that their rule regarding steel wheels "is a written rule that must be practiced or a person can face expulsion."
Schroeder agreed that the ordinance interferes with the religious practice because testimony showed it was necessary to drive steel wheel tractors on hard surface roads to get from field to field and to market.
But Mitchell County proved that there was "an overriding governmental interest in protecting the roads," the last of a three-part test established by the U.S. Supreme Court, Schroeder said.
The assistant county engineer testified "that every time a steel wheel tractor is driven on a hard surface road, it causes damage," Schroeder wrote. While the county limited the use of steel wheel tractors, it has not prohibited them. Farmers can use them in fields and on gravel roads.
"We're happy that the judge looked at the facts and the case law and correctly applied those," said Mitchell County Attorney Mark Walk. "We will carry on as we have."
Mark Walk said he fully anticipated that Murphy would appeal the ruling.
"The law is the law," said Stan Walk, chairman of the Mitchell County Board of Supervisors. "We will continue to carry forward. We've got to protect our investment."
"Any time you receive a court ruling that is not in your favor there is a sense of disappointment," said Murphy. "At the same time, this is an important issue, and it's probably not the last word on whether the ordinance is constitutional."
Murphy said the Zimmermans were pleased that the court recognized the use of steel wheels on tractors is a religious practice and that the ordinance interferes with that practice.
"When I look at the evidence of damage, I see nothing more than superficial or cosmetic damage, and that is not enough to overcome the community's ability to freely practice their religion," Murphy said.