{"id":3358,"date":"2014-04-11T17:53:48","date_gmt":"2014-04-12T01:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/?p=3358"},"modified":"2014-04-11T17:53:48","modified_gmt":"2014-04-12T01:53:48","slug":"senate-passes-senator-stedmans-bill-regarding-criminal-trespass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/?p=3358","title":{"rendered":"Senate Passes Senator Stedman\u2019s Bill Regarding Criminal Trespass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, the Senate passed Senate Bill 201<\/a>, an act regarding criminal trespass by a vote of 17 yeas and 2 nays.\u00a0 I introduced this bill earlier this session to amend the criminal trespass statutes as it relates to the posting of \u201cno trespass\u201d signs. Current state law gives a person who enters or remains on unimproved or apparently unused land the privilege to do so unless notice against trespass is given. There are two ways notice against trespass can be given: 1) if the landowner or an authorized representative personally communicates to the person that trespass is prohibited; 2) or if \u201cno trespass\u201d signs are posted.\u00a0 The law also includes specific requirements for posting \u201cno trespass\u201d signs such as:<\/p>\n

It must be at least 144 square inches in size;<\/p>\n

It must contain the name and address of the landlord or an authorized representative;<\/p>\n

It must be posted at every roadway or access point to the property;<\/p>\n

In the case of an island, it must be posted on the perimeter of each cardinal point of the island;<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the sign must state what specific activities are prohibited such as \u201cno hunting,\u201d \u201cno fishing,\u201d or \u201cno digging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 201 would remove from statute the excessive requirements for posting numerous no trespassing signs at every access point.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t do this, intentional trespassers will continue to use this section of statute as a legal defense to enter and remain on private land.\u00a0 All they have to do is find an access point that isn\u2019t posted.\u00a0 Many Alaskans own private property in remote locations with severe weather.\u00a0 No trespassing signs can be blown down, removed by vandals, or covered by snow.\u00a0 The lack of visible signs at every access point to your property should not be a legitimate excuse for trespassers.\u00a0 It should be the responsibility of the individual to find out beforehand if the property they want to use is public or private.<\/p>\n

This won\u2019t result in a flood of criminal trespass charges against the average citizen who is out for a hike and wanders across someone\u2019s private land.\u00a0 In the 1987 case of Johnson vs. State, the court established a prerequisite for conviction for the offense of criminal trespass.\u00a0 The state is obligated to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly remained on the premises after personally being ordered to leave.\u00a0 Finally, this won\u2019t change the legal right of a person to use private property in an emergency.\u00a0 AS 11.46.340 provides an affirmative defense against prosecution if someone enters and uses private property in the case of immediate and dire need.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 201 now goes to the House of Representatives for their consideration in the final days of the legislative session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, the Senate passed Senate Bill 201, an act regarding criminal trespass by a vote of 17 yeas and 2 nays.\u00a0 I introduced this bill earlier this session to amend the criminal trespass statutes as it relates to the posting of \u201cno trespass\u201d signs. Current state law gives a person who enters or remains on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3358"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3362,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3358\/revisions\/3362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bertstedman.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}