As officials in St. Lawrence County struggle with Amish resistance to some building code requirements, others in the north country are grappling more quietly with the issue.

New York state building codes require one- and two-family houses to have smoke detectors, but members of the strict Swartzentruber Amish sect will not install them.

The resistance of 11 men in Morristown has led to a lengthy court battle, one that is still unresolved.

In Jefferson County, where officials estimate some 100 Amish reside, there has been a greater reluctance on the part of local code enforcement officers to prosecute them.

Instead, local officers say they are waiting to see both how the Morristown case concludes and whether state officials will step in to resolve the issue.

"It's a state problem," said Michael L. Kieff, Jefferson County senior code enforcement officer. "It should be addressed in Albany and applied everywhere in the state."

Mr. Kieff, like other local enforcement officers, said he has no desire to put Amish residents in jail or take them to court over code enforcement issues like smoke detectors.

"The Amish will not do certain things. They tell me, 'We'll go to jail.' That certainly isn't anything I would advocate over the building code," Mr. Keiff said. "If they say to us, 'That may be so, but I'm not going to do it,' what is our recourse?"

Echoing other code enforcement officers, Mr. Keiff accused state officials of "not stepping up to the plate" by giving more guidance on the issue.

"If the state comes out and says, 'The building code is the building code,' that there are no variances allowed, then it's going to be a real political football," he said. "The state of New York needs to be sitting down with the Amish community, or the elders, and coming up with something everyone can agree to."

Ronald E. Piester, director of the state division of code enforcement, said the requirements are clear: one- or two-family homes must have smoke detectors under the New York state building code.

He said state officials appreciate that code enforcement might be a sensitive issue, particularly where religion is involved, but added that local officers are expected "to rigidly enforce the code."

"The code does not allow any type of exemption from the state's minimum standards for religious objections," he said, adding of enforcement, "If there are communities that are not doing so, then certainly we have a significant concern about that."

Both town and county code enforcement officers said they urged Amish residents to apply to the state for a variance allowing them to construct a building without smoke detectors.

A Freedom of Information request, though, showed two such petitions: from Sam Weaver in October 2006 for his 1,672-square-foot home and from Joseph Glick in August 2007 for his 2,348-square-foot residence.

Both Clayton residents were granted variances for heating, plumbing, water supply and sewer system requirements on the conditions that they install a sanitary privy and a battery-operated smoke alarm.

After Mr. Glick refused the smoke detector requirement, Jefferson County Code Enforcement Officer Thomas R. Stover met with Mr. Glick and his father. He described the "amiable, low-key discussion" in a field inspection report.

"Joe said he couldn't agree to put smoke detectors in his home for any period of time," Mr. Stover wrote. "He said to do so would excommunicate him from the church which was his security if anything happened to him or his family."

In a later interview, Mr. Stover said that while Amish residents were "very nice people, very pleasant," there were certain things they wouldn't do.

"There's no animosity between me and them or them and me," he said. "I explain the law to them and there are certain things against their religion."

Mr. Stover pointed out that since Amish residents often live in isolated areas far from the help of fire services, there's a chance someone could die if a fire occurred. He estimated there are about 15 Amish families with about 100 members in Jefferson County.

Still, Mr. Stover said, it's not the job of county officials to force Amish to comply with the code by taking them to court.

"We haven't taken enforcement action against them because we wanted to get the state to give us guidance," Mr. Stover said. "The situation is such that we're out of our league."

Until there is more guidance on how to deal with the Amish specifically, Mr. Stover said, citations would be "a paperwork exercise."

Although they balk at smoke detectors, when it comes to other permits and building requirements, town officials said, Amish residents have been extremely cooperative.

Brad P. "Shookie" Millett, zoning officer for the town of Orleans, said Amish families always had waited to meet with him before they started working on a building.

"They never, never start a project without a permit," he said. "They're great people. We have no problem."

To accommodate such residents, town officials installed a hitching post for horses outside the municipal offices, Mr. Millett said.

Henry R. LaClair, code enforcement officer for the town of Clayton, said he had issued more than 10 zoning permits in the last three years and had never had an issue with the six or seven Amish families in Clayton.

Because Amish buildings tended to be larger, Mr. LaClair said, the applicants had paid fees that often were about $1,000.

"In the town of Clayton, they're willing to work with us," he said. "With rather large families, therefore they need large houses; therefore, they pay pretty sizable fees."

Richard A. Ingerson, Clayton building inspector, said Amish residents were willing to get permits and let him do inspections.

Mr. Ingerson had discussed fire alarm systems with Amish families and told them when they needed to apply for a variance, but said he tried "not to push anything like new technology."

"They allowed me to take pictures. I thought that was pretty decent of them," he said. "I really haven't had any problems with them."