This will go down on your permanent record...

Ken Ulman is super tough on crime. Note that if you shoot and kill someone, the police will completely fail to gather enough evidence to charge you with any crime, but the homeowners where the shooting occurred will be harassed with zoning violations and other nonsense.

The notices and letters included the following:

• The Howard County Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits wrote in a letter to the homeowners that they had violated the county building code by hosting “parties open to the general public,” such as “nightclubs and dance halls” do. Since the home is zoned for residential use, the homeowners would need to apply for a permit to change its zoning to “assembly use,” wrote department director Robert Frances.
If the homeowners host parties there in the future, county officials will “immediately post the structure as unsafe, vacate the premises and issue a civil citation,” Frances wrote. Civil citations can result in fines of up to $500 per day, he added.

• The Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning ordered the homeowners to “cease use of the property as a commercial nightclub/dance hall” or face fines of up to $500, court injunctions or other penalties.

• The county Fire Department charged that the homeowners created a “hazardous condition” when they held the alleged party and could face fines of up to $500 if they hold such events in the future.

• The Health Department wrote in a letter to the homeowners that they had violated the county health code by serving food at a “public event” without consulting health officials and that they must not hold any future parties without doing so.

Also, the cover charge was $5 for girls and $10 for guys, so I fully expect the county to bring a gender discrimination suit as well.

Yee-haw, sheriff Ulman is in town!