diff --git a/validate/rules.go b/validate/rules.go
index b88e0e9..d08ecfd 100644
--- a/validate/rules.go
+++ b/validate/rules.go
@@ -1,24 +1,30 @@
 package validate
 
 import (
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/vbatts/git-validation/git"
 )
 
 var (
 	// RegisteredRules are the standard validation to perform on git commits
-	RegisteredRules = []Rule{}
+	RegisteredRules  = []Rule{}
+	registerRuleLock = sync.Mutex{}
 )
 
 // RegisterRule includes the Rule in the avaible set to use
 func RegisterRule(vr Rule) {
+	registerRuleLock.Lock()
+	defer registerRuleLock.Unlock()
 	RegisteredRules = append(RegisteredRules, vr)
 }
 
 // Rule will operate over a provided git.CommitEntry, and return a result.
 type Rule struct {
 	Name        string // short name for reference in in the `-run=...` flag
+	Value       string // value to configure for the rule (i.e. a regexp to check for in the commit message)
 	Description string // longer Description for readability
 	Run         func(git.CommitEntry) Result
 }
@@ -54,28 +60,74 @@ func (vr Results) PassFail() (pass int, fail int) {
 	return pass, fail
 }
 
-// SanitizeFilters takes a comma delimited list and returns the cleaned items in the list
-func SanitizeFilters(filt string) (excludes []string) {
-
-	for _, item := range strings.Split(filt, ",") {
-		excludes = append(excludes, strings.TrimSpace(item))
+// SanitizeFilters takes a comma delimited list and returns the trimmend and
+// split (on ",") items in the list
+func SanitizeFilters(filtStr string) (filters []string) {
+	for _, item := range strings.Split(filtStr, ",") {
+		filters = append(filters, strings.TrimSpace(item))
 	}
-
 	return
 }
 
-// FilterRules takes a set of rules and a list of short names to exclude, and returns the reduced set.
-// The comparison is case insensitive.
-func FilterRules(rules []Rule, excludes []string) []Rule {
+// FilterRules takes a set of rules and a list of short names to include, and
+// returns the reduced set.  The comparison is case insensitive.
+//
+// Some `includes` rules have values assigned to them.
+// i.e. -run "dco,message_regexp='^JIRA-[0-9]+ [A-Z].*$'"
+//
+func FilterRules(rules []Rule, includes []string) []Rule {
 	ret := []Rule{}
 
 	for _, r := range rules {
-		for _, e := range excludes {
-			if strings.ToLower(r.Name) == strings.ToLower(e) {
-				ret = append(ret, r)
+		for i := range includes {
+			if strings.Contains(includes[i], "=") {
+				chunks := strings.SplitN(includes[i], "=", 2)
+				if strings.ToLower(r.Name) == strings.ToLower(chunks[0]) {
+					// for these rules, the Name won't be unique per se. There may be
+					// multiple "regexp=" with different values. We'll need to set the
+					// .Value = chunk[1] and ensure r is dup'ed so they don't clobber
+					// each other.
+					newR := Rule(r)
+					newR.Value = chunks[1]
+					ret = append(ret, newR)
+				}
+			} else {
+				if strings.ToLower(r.Name) == strings.ToLower(includes[i]) {
+					ret = append(ret, r)
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
 	return ret
 }
+
+// StringsSliceEqual compares two string arrays for equality
+func StringsSliceEqual(a, b []string) bool {
+	if !sort.StringsAreSorted(a) {
+		sort.Strings(a)
+	}
+	if !sort.StringsAreSorted(b) {
+		sort.Strings(b)
+	}
+	for i := range b {
+		if !StringsSliceContains(a, b[i]) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	for i := range a {
+		if !StringsSliceContains(b, a[i]) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+// StringsSliceContains checks for the presence of a word in string array
+func StringsSliceContains(a []string, b string) bool {
+	if !sort.StringsAreSorted(a) {
+		sort.Strings(a)
+	}
+	i := sort.SearchStrings(a, b)
+	return i < len(a) && a[i] == b
+}
diff --git a/validate/rules_test.go b/validate/rules_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..290973f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validate/rules_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package validate
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestSanitizeRules(t *testing.T) {
+	set := []struct {
+		input  string
+		output []string
+	}{
+		{
+			input:  "apples, oranges , bananas",
+			output: []string{"apples", "oranges", "bananas"},
+		},
+		{
+			input:  "apples, oranges , bananas, peaches='with cream'",
+			output: []string{"apples", "oranges", "bananas", "peaches='with cream'"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for i := range set {
+		filt := SanitizeFilters(set[i].input)
+		if !StringsSliceEqual(filt, set[i].output) {
+			t.Errorf("expected output like %v, but got %v", set[i].output, filt)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSliceHelpers(t *testing.T) {
+	set := []struct {
+		A, B  []string
+		Equal bool
+	}{
+		{
+			A:     []string{"apples", "bananas", "oranges", "mango"},
+			B:     []string{"oranges", "bananas", "apples", "mango"},
+			Equal: true,
+		},
+		{
+			A:     []string{"apples", "bananas", "oranges", "mango"},
+			B:     []string{"waffles"},
+			Equal: false,
+		},
+	}
+	for i := range set {
+		got := StringsSliceEqual(set[i].A, set[i].B)
+		if got != set[i].Equal {
+			t.Errorf("expected %d A and B comparison to be %q, but got %q", i, set[i].Equal, got)
+		}
+	}
+}