Good Fences Make Good Jail Sentences

September 5, 2007

Francisco Linares faces six months in jail for repairing a fence on city property. After Linares built a home in Rolling Hills Estates, California, he asked the city to repair a nearby fence. City officials told him it was on his property and therefore his responsibility. So he fixed it. Officials changed their minds and said the fence was indeed on city property. They also found he had built a retaining wall higher than permitted, as well as several other building code violations. He was told to remove the structures or get permits or he would face jail time. But he was unable to get the permits and did not remove the structures, so he's now looking at jail time.