The Amish don’t have telephones, so Erick Woods drove 45 minutes to give the Borntregers the news: They won a reprieve Friday from an order to vacate their Wisconsin home after refusing to comply with updated building-code rules for religious reasons.
Eau Claire County Circuit Court Judge Kristen Bourget agreed to grant a stay from her Monday ruling, which directs the sheriff to remove the Amish family from their home in rural Fairchild, Wisconsin, while attorney Matthew Krische appeals the order.
“They couldn’t it believe it. They’ve lived months and months and months under the threat of someone coming to their house and evicting them,” said Mr. Woods, one of many non-Amish neighbors who have rallied around Amos and Vera Borntreger.
“Once I told them they could stay, you should have seen the relief in their eyes,” Mr. Woods said. “Amos said, ’You mean I can sleep again?’”
The abeyance ruling came a day after Eau Claire County sheriff’s officers stapled a placard to the front door declaring the home unfit for human habitation and blocked it with police tape, saying they would return in a week.
It turns out the “Do Not Cross” police tape didn’t last long. “Amos said his kids took it down about an hour after the sheriff left,” said Mr. Woods.
SEE ALSO: Religious exemption sought for Amish after Wisconsin family forced out of home
Another neighbor, Rachel Lane, collected signatures Friday in Augusta, Wisconsin, for a petition calling on the state legislature and Wisconsin Builders Association to support a religious exemption from the Uniform Dwelling Code.
The Borntregers, who have four young children and belong to the Old Order Amish, had refused to sign electrical and sanitary building permits requiring modern devices such as smoke alarms, carbon-monoxide detectors and indoor plumbing.
“This is more than just making the Amish put smoke alarms in their newly built homes. The building permit states that the signer understands they are ’subject to’ the Uniform Dwelling Code,” the petition says. “This presents a problem for the Amish community when they build new homes for their growing families because some of the items in the code are strictly prohibited by 300 years of their religious tradition.”
Heather Wolske, assistant corporation counsel for Eau Claire County, insisted that the county is not targeting the Amish, as the religious community’s supporters have charged.
“Eau Claire County treats all case involving failure to obtain building permits and sanitary permits the same way,” Ms. Wolske said in an email. “The County cannot pick and choose to treat a particular group differently than all other groups based on religion. That is called discrimination.”
Of the six cases against Amish families in 2013, Ms. Wolske said that five of them agreed to take out the required sanitary and building permits, meaning that about 95 percent of the county’s Amish residents have complied with the permit rules.
David Mortimer, a local Amish supporter, said 13 Amish families have been brought into court in recent years. In 2012, the Eau Claire County sheriff removed an elderly couple, Henry and Sarah Mast, from their home in a case that generated a rash of criticism.
Disputes between the Amish and local governments have increased in Wisconsin and elsewhere as the religious community’s numbers soar. The U.S. Amish population is expected to reach 1 million by 2050, which would be three times their 2010 population, according to a 2012 Ohio State University study.
The court battles in Eau Claire County stem largely from the state’s 2005 Uniform Dwelling Code, which updated and heightened building requirements in the name of safety but failed to include a provision for a religious waiver.
“The County is following the state laws,” Ms. Wolske said. “Until the laws are changed, the County is required to enforce the laws as written.”
Wisconsin state Rep. Kathleen Bernier plans to insert a religious exemption from certain UDC requirements in the state’s budget bill, which is expected to come before the legislature in June. She says Gov. Scott Walker has assured her that he will not veto the provision.
In addition to the loss of their home, the Borntregers face a hefty financial hit. The contempt of court order issued Monday includes a $42,700 forfeiture to be paid to the clerk of the court, plus court costs. The family could also incur fines of $2,000 per day for every day they remain in the home and jail time, according to WEAU-TV in Wisconsin.
In addition to a steady stream of local news coverage, the plight of the Borntregers and other Amish has inspired a Facebook page, Stand with Eau Claire County Amish Families, which doubled its following in the last week to 1,100.
“There’s overwhelming support for them in the community,” said Mr. Mortimer, who helps manage the page. “It’s kind of like a sleeping giant has been awakened up here.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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