Code Attorney

I had the privilege of doing a seminar for MACE, the Missouri group for code inspectors, last month in Springfield, Missouri.  The members were energetic and a joy to instruct.  I especially enjoyed speaking with Gary Schlottach, a police officer/code enforcement officer with the Florissant Police Department.  He truly understands that strict code enforcement is law enforcement’s best friend.  He gave example after example of how the code department and police department successfully can work together to improve the quality of life in a community.  One of his ideas was checking with the local recorder of deeds to find out many other properties in other jurisdictions a troublesome landowner has and then contacting the authorities in those jurisdictions to find out if they’re experiencing problems too.  Sometimes it results in getting more up to date contact information or a joint effort to pressure the lawbreaker to become compliant.  Code enforcement inspectors with police training are very good at obtaining information from a variety of sources and are comfortable with obtaining administrative search warrants.  They also understand right of entry restrictions.  Gary knew all of the tricks. He was very generous with his time and advice and expressed an interest in sharing his knowledge with other departments.