Trespass Law Impact

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[edit] Trespass Law

Recent changes in the Trespass Law have affected the costs for land owners in associated with obtaining the boundaries of their property. This portion of the web site has been developed to inform Professional Land Surveyors and the public of the effects this legislation is having on the bottom line for obtaining the extents of their land holdings. Not only have land owners been affected by the structure of the new law, but Professional Land Surveyors have been impacted, for "You can NOT place your eye on the boundary line without being on another's property". The impact has been that Surveyors and land owners may need court orders and lawyers in order to survey the boundaries of property.

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IMPACT ON SURVEYING REPORTING FORM

This has increased the cost of obtaining a survey for one's land. The Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors is requesting that all practicing Professional Land Surveyors and Land owners whom have their ability to obtain their boundaries impacted by the Trespass law to complete an online reporting form. This will assist LSPS in making sure the needs of the majority of landowners are met by appealing for a trespass law which is NOT onerous to the majority of land owners. Use the following link to access the on line form: Trespass Form

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TRESPASS LAW (RS 14:63)

The law as it is in the current form is given below can be found at http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=78584

RS 14:63
4. CRIMINAL TRESPASS

§63. Criminal trespass
A. No person shall enter any structure, watercraft, or movable owned by another without express, legal, or implied authorization.

B. No person shall enter upon immovable property owned by another without express, legal, or implied authorization.

C. No person shall remain in or upon property, movable or immovable, owned by another without express, legal, or implied authorization.

D. It shall be an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a violation of Subsection A, B, or C of this Section, that the accused had express, legal, or implied authority to be in the movable or on the immovable property.

E. The following persons may enter or remain upon the structure, watercraft, movable or immovable property, of another:

1. A duly commissioned law enforcement officer in the performance of his duties.
2. Any firefighter, whether or not a member of a volunteer or other fire department, and any employee or agent of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry engaged in locating and suppressing a fire.
3. Emergency medical personnel engaged in the rendering of medical assistance to an individual.
4. Any federal, state or local government employee, public utility employee or agent engaged in suppressing or dealing with an emergency that presents an imminent danger to human safety or health or to the environment.
5. Any federal, state or local government employee, public utility employee or agent in the performance of his duties when otherwise authorized by law to enter or remain on immovable or movable property.
6. Any person authorized by a court of law to enter or remain on immovable property.
7. Any person exercising the mere right of passage to an enclosed estate, as otherwise provided by law.

F. The following persons may enter or remain upon immovable property of another, unless specifically forbidden to do so by the owner or other person with authority, either orally or in writing:

1. A professional land surveyor or his authorized personnel, engaged in the "Practice of Land Surveying", as defined in R.S. 37:682.
2. A person, affiliate, employee, agent or contractor of any business which is regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission or by a local franchising authority or the Federal Communication Commission under the Cable Reregulation Act of 1992 or of a municipal or public utility, while acting in the course and scope of his employment or agency relating to the operation, repair, or maintenance of a facility, servitude or any property located on the immovable property which belongs to such a business.
3. Any person making a delivery, soliciting, selling any product or service, conducting a survey or poll, a real estate licensee or other person who has a legitimate reason for making a delivery, conducting business or communicating with the owner, lessee, custodian or a resident of the immovable property, and who, immediately upon entry, seeks to make the delivery, to conduct business or to conduct the communication.
4. An employee of the owner, lessee or custodian of the immovable property while performing his duties, functions and responsibilities in the course and scope of his employment.
5. The owner of domestic livestock or his employees or agents while in the process of retrieving his domestic livestock that have escaped from an area fenced to retain such domestic livestock.
6. The owner of a domestic animal while in the sole process of merely retrieving his domestic animal from immovable property and not having a firearm or other weapon on his person.
7. Any candidate for political office or any person working on behalf of a candidate for a political office.
8. The owner or occupant of a watercraft or vessel traveling in salt water engaged in any lawful purpose for the purpose of retrieval of his property or for obtaining assistance in an emergency situation.

G. The following penalties shall be imposed for a violation of this Section:

1. For the first offense, the fine shall be not less than one hundred dollars and not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both.
2. For the second offense, the fine shall be not less than three hundred dollars and not more than seven hundred fifty dollars, or imprisonment for not more than ninety days, or both.
3. For the third offense and all subsequent offenses, the fine shall be not less than five hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisonment for not less than sixty days and not more than six months, or both, and forfeiture to the law enforcement authority of any property seized in connection with the violation.
4. A person may be convicted of a second offense and any subsequent offenses regardless of whether any prior conviction involved the same structure, watercraft, movable or immovable property and regardless of the time sequence of the occurrence of the offenses.

H. The provisions of any other law notwithstanding, owners, lessees, and custodians of structures, watercraft, movable or immovable property shall not be answerable for damages sustained by any person who enters upon the structure, watercraft, movable or immovable property without express, legal or implied authorization, or who without legal authorization, remains upon the structure, watercraft, movable or immovable property after being forbidden by the owner, or other person with authority to do so; however, the owner, lessee or custodian of the property may be answerable for damages only upon a showing that the damages sustained were the result of the intentional acts or gross negligence of the owner, lessee or custodian.

I. A minor ten years old or younger shall not be arrested, detained or apprehended for the crime of trespass.

Amended by Acts 1960, No. 458, §1; Acts 1964, No. 497, §1; Acts 1981, No. 78, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1982; Acts 1990, No. 870, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, No. 438, §1; Acts 1993, No. 887, §1; Acts 2003, No. 279, §3; Acts 2003, No. 802, §1.