Unruly: Rick Yoes, 57 (pictured), spent the weekend in jail in an attempt to avoid paying $1,700 in fines related to nearly two decades of code violations for his overgrown lawn . A 57-year-old man in Texas was jailed this weekend after nearly two decades of code violations for his unruly lawn came back to haunt him. But Grand Prairie resident Rick Yoes claims the city didn't do enough to warn him about the citations, which officials claim were sent out in the mail. Yoes, an electrician at Tarrant County College, was shocked when he received a postcard a couple weeks ago saying he had six outstanding code violations totaling $1,700 and that there was a warrant out for his arrest. Issues Yoes has been cited for in the past include  high grass over a foot long, overhanging tree limbs, a dilapidated wood fence, an inoperable vehicle and junk in the yard, and a dirty swimming pool. 'I can’t really afford to pay a lawyer to fight it,' Yoes told CBS Dallas/Fort Worth. 'I couldn’t really afford to pay them $1,700 in fines that he said I owed him. I didn’t know what else to do I just turned myself in.' Yoes turned himself in this weekend and spent two nights in jail before a friend paid his fine to secure his release. Daughter Angel Yoes told the Fresno People's Media that when her father received the warning, he took off all his vacation days at work and found a replacement so that he could serve 17 days in prison rather than pay the fine. Father and daughter say they've had issues with code enforcement in the past, but have tried to keep the yard up to standard when the previously received warnings.  However, Yoes claims he didn't know about the six violations he was confronted with recently. Scroll down for video . Let it grow: The city of Grand Prairie says they tried several times to reach out to Yoes over the years, but that the man refused to keep his lawn up to code. Above, Yoes' home in Grand Prairie . Too long: Above, another view of Yoes' lawn from Bing. Among the issues with Yoes' lawn were overhanging branches long enough to hit a passing truck . Repeat offender: Above, a picture of Yoes' lawn on one of the dozens of visits code enforces have taken to his property since 1996 . Upset: Yoes says the city didn't do enough to warn him of the mounting fines for his lawn. Pictured on the left in a photo posted to his Facebook . Following Yoes' stint behind bars, city officials released a list of Yoes' violations on his Coffeyville Trail home and insisted that they had given him plenty of warning to get his yard up to code and avoid fines. 'Unfortunately, since 2014, he has not responded to our repeated requests to jointly solve the problems, which has forced us to ultimately cite him for the violations,' the city said in a statement. 'Our Municipal Courts are always amenable to work with citizens on a suitable plan for unpaid citations, but this citizen chose not to take advantage of that opportunity, either.' Officer Mark Beseda of the Grand Prairie Police Department added: 'I can assure you our city would never simply place a citizen in jail for failing to mow their grass.' In an interview with WFAA, Yoes claims he never got any letters from the city for the citations. 'I assume they probably mailed me something; never landed in my hands,' Yoes said. 'If they sent me certified mail, I don't pick certified mail up.' But in another interview with CBS, Yoes tells a different story, saying he received the letters but never opened them because he thought they had to do with another legal matter. He says he's upset with the system the city uses to send out citations. 'When you get a traffic ticket the officer brings you the ticket,' Yoes said. 'So there’s no question so that you know that this is what happened. That never happened here.'
Grand Prairie, Texas officials say Rick Yoes, 57, has refused to respond to two decades worth of code violations for unruly lawn . When he received notice that he owed $1,700 and that there was a warrant out of his arrest, Yoes reported to jail instead of paying the fine . He spent two nights in jail before a friend paid the fine and secured his release . Officials for the city say they would never arrest someone for not mowing their lawn and that Yoes had plenty of opportunities to work with them . Yoes claims in one interview that he never received the warnings, while in another interview said he ignored the letters .