Local (City) police - where does their authority come from?

[CdwJava]

That's why I'm looking for something to definitively tie them into the APA. It's been done in multiple states, and APA's are mostly the same across states, so I know there's got to be some way to do it in there.

Start reading. I was reading through it last night (for Michigan) and it basically outlines how those rules are to be set up and even has provisions for the enforcement of those rules. If the violation for which you were cited was not a criminal violation (and many states have civil infractions or some such thing for lesser offenses) than you likely have no ground to stand on.

And if you think lawyers are afraid to take on the machine, then you don't know many lawyers. There are thousands that make their living taking on every iota of government. If this was a loophole, it would have been exploited by now.

Anyway, have fun.

- Carl