Sheriff Will Not Enforce Law on Ag Vehicles

The sheriff of Clark County in Wisconsin said in a news release earlier this month that a new state law regulating the weight of agriculture-related vehicles on public roads is “unrealistic and unattainable and, consequently, unenforceable.”

The law, Act 377 or IOH law, took effect in January. It places weight limits on agricultural equipment.

In the release, Sheriff Greg Herrick said, “Farmers and agri-business operators face excessive fines and forfeitures for tractors and implements of husbandry that are now considered overweight and illegal on Wisconsin state, county, and local roads, unless a permit is obtained from the local maintaining authority.”

He also said several farmers in surrounding counties have been targeted by the state’s patrol and other county sheriff’s offices and received citations with potential fines and forfeitures he considers excessive and unconstitutional.

“Based on available information, the local maintaining authorities denied these farmers the appropriate permits to travel on the roads with their tractors and implements of husbandry, despite the necessity that those farmers reach their fields for spring field work and planting,” Herrick said. “Significant portions of Act 377 are unconstitutional and, therefore, unenforceable. Those provisions will not be enforced within Clark County by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.” S