HB 536 Summary

• Establishes civil trespass liability with penalties of $500 or treble damages, plus attorney's fees and investigation costs, for entering or remaining on another's property without permission when property is posted with "No Trespassing" signs or marked with orange paint

• Creates criminal trespass as a misdemeanor with penalties of $500-$1,000 fine and up to 6 months jail for first offense; second offense within 5 years increases to $1,000-$3,000 fine with possible hunting/fishing license revocation; third or subsequent offense is a felony with up to 1 year imprisonment and $5,000 fine

• Limits property owners' duty of care to trespassers to refraining from intentional or willful and wanton acts causing injury, while preserving the common law doctrine of attractive nuisance

• Defines "enter" to include causing any object, substance, or force to go upon property, and specifies that cutting timber, damaging crops, driving vehicles through cultivated land, injuring livestock, and destroying fencing constitute trespass

• Applies effective date of July 1, 2018 for causes of action related to liability provisions in new Chapter 31