MARSHALL — Lyon County Commissioners talked this week about whether to allow all-terrain vehicles on county roads. However, the idea didn’t meet with a lot of support from commissioners, and no motions were made on changing county ordinances.

“I think it just makes it a little more convoluted. I think it’s laid out in state statute,” Commissioner Rick Anderson said of having a county ATV ordinance.

At Tuesday’s county board meeting, commissioners talked about the possibility of having a county ordinance regulating ATV use on county roads. Commissioner Todd Draper said there were some Minnesota counties with ordinances regulating ATVs.

One possible sample ordinance that Commissioner Gary Crowley shared with the board came from Redwood County. The Redwood County ordinance said most county roads were appropriate for mixed use by ATVs and other vehicles, and allow for safe operation of ATVs on the shoulder.

The Redwood County ordinance also said the use of ATVs on the shoulder of county roads is allowed, with conditions including that the driver complies with laws, and that the ATVs ride on the gravel shoulder or extreme right-hand side of county roads.

However, Anderson said Minnesota state statutes already cover where different types of ATVs can be operated.

“If you go into the manual . . . It basically tells you where you can ride them. It already covers the county roads, the county state aid (highways),” he said.

Minnesota state statutes say Class 1 ATVs can ride in the ditch or outside bank of a county road, or on the far right side of a township road. Class 2 ATVs, which are wider and can include side-by-sides, can be operated on the right shoulder or extreme right-hand side of a road.

Commissioner Thomas Andries asked Sheriff Eric Wallen how a county ATV ordinance would affect law enforcement.

“If we passed an ordinance, is that going to create more work for you guys?” he said.

Wallen said staffing concerns would make it difficult for deputies to enforce ATV ordinances either way. An ordinance would make it legal for riders to use county roadways, which many people already do, he said.

“The law allows them to drive on the extreme right hand side of the roadway, which basically means the shoulder. Most machines don’t want to drive with one tire on the tar and one tire on gravel, so they drive on the roadway, which is technically in violation of the state statute,” Wallen said.

“An ordinance would allow them to be 100% on the roadway, if that’s what you all choose. So it would probably allow more people to be in compliance with the law than there are today,” he said.

Anderson clarified that it was side-by-sides that were allowed on the road shoulders under state law.

“If you read the one for the four-wheelers, they have to ride on the outside bank of the ditches. And we can’t make it less restrictive than what the state statute is, that’s my understanding of the laws,” Anderson said. “So if the law says they’re supposed to be riding on the shoulders, that’s where they should be riding.”

In the end, commissioners did not put forward any motions updating county ordinances to allow ATVs on county roads.