BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1675| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1675 Author: Hagman (R), et al Amended: 6/14/10 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/22/10 AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg, Wright SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 4/22/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Trespass: zoo, circus, animal exhibit and aquarium Enclosures SOURCE : San Francisco Zoo DIGEST : This bill are to (1) define a new form of trespass that would be committed where a person, without consent and contrary to a posted notice, enters an animal enclosure in a zoo, circus, aquarium or traveling animal exhibit, and (2) provides that the offense shall be an alternate misdemeanor-infraction. ANALYSIS : Existing law states that it is a misdemeanor punishable by six months in county jail for every person who willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by, another, CONTINUED AB 1675 Page 2 or entering upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the lands without the written permission of the owner of the land, the owner's agent or of the person in lawful possession and: 1. Refuses or fails to leave the lands immediately upon being requested by the owner of the land, the owner's agent or by the person in lawful possession to leave the lands. 2. Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign, signboard, or notice forbidding trespass or hunting on the lands. 3. Removes, injures, unlocks, or tampers with any lock on any gate on or leading into the lands. 4. Discharges any firearm. (Penal Code Section 602(l).] Existing law provides that any person who willfully enters and occupies real property or structures of any kind without the consent of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Penal Code Section 602(m).) Existing law allows for prosecution against those who refuse or fail to leave land, real property, or structures belonging to or lawfully occupied by another and not open to the general public, upon being requested to leave by a peace officer at the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession, and upon being informed by the peace officer that he or she is acting at the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession or the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession. (Penal Code Section 602(o).) Existing law provides that any person who, without the written permission of the landowner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession of the land, willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by a fence, belonging to, or occupied by, another, or who willfully enters upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs CONTINUED AB 1675 Page 3 forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trials entering lands, is guilty of a public offense punishable as follows: 1. A first offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of $75. 2. A second offense on the same land or any contiguous land of the same landowner, without the permission of the landowner, the landowner's agent, or the person in lawful possession of the land, is an infraction punishable by a fine of $250. 3. A third or subsequent offense on the same land or any contiguous land of the same landowner, without the permission of the landowner, the landowner's agent, or the person in lawful possession of the land, is a six-month misdemeanor. (Penal Code Section 602.8.) This bill makes it an alternate misdemeanor-infraction for any person, without consent, to enter an animal enclosure at a zoo, circus, or traveling animal exhibit, if the zoo, circus or exhibit is licensed or permitted to display living animals to the public. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by up to six-months in the county jail, a fine not exceed $1,000, or both. An infraction conviction is punishable by a fine of up to $250. This bill provides that the crime only applies if signs prohibiting entrance into the animal enclosures have been posted either at the entrance to the facility or exhibit or on the animal enclosure. This bill includes cross-references and statutory provisions for the application of standard alternate-misdemeanor infraction procedures to this offense. This bill creates exemptions for a zoo employee acting within the course of his or her employment and a public officer acting within the course and scope of his or her employment in performance of a duty imposed by law. CONTINUED AB 1675 Page 4 This bill defines a "zoo" as a permanent or semi-permanent collection of living animals kept in enclosures for the purpose of displaying the animals to the public, including public aquariums displaying aquatic animals. This bill provides that an "animal enclosure" is a discrete containment area, such as the interior of a cage, stall, pen, aquarium or tank, that is used to house or display an animal and which is not generally accessible to the public. This bill includes an exception for a public officer acting within the scope or his or her employment. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 8/5/10) San Francisco Zoo (source) CA Travel Industry Association California Association of Joint Powers Authorities California Association of Museums California Association of Zoos and Aquariums Sacramento Zoo ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office current trespassing laws do not fully protect our zoos and the endangered species in these facilities. This bill helps California zoos better protect their animals and deter anyone who tries to harm them. The San Francisco Zoo argues in support of this bill and states, "As currently interpreted, current law allows any individual to enter into any zoological animal exhibit or holding area despite the potential threat to themselves, the living animals housed therein, the staff, or the visiting public if they are not intending to 'occupy', or live in, the animal exhibit or enclosure. "We believe this decision sets a dangerous precedent that would allow anyone unsupervised or without the required permissions to enter into living animal exhibits, exposing themselves to serious bodily harm with the result that they in turn could sue the zoological facility or the government CONTINUED AB 1675 Page 5 entity owning or operating the facility as a result of such behavior." In September 2009 a man by the name of Kenneth Herron entered the Grizzly Bear Grotto at the San Francisco Zoo without authority. When the Zoo pressed charges of trespassing the judge threw out the case on the grounds that trespassing was akin to anti squatting laws and to be found guilty required the intruder to intend to occupy the area. "The defendant jumped an electrified wall and a separate fence, jumped [14] feet into a moat, perched himself in the grizzly bears' living area and showed no signs of leaving before zookeepers fired a shotgun and forcibly removed him? If that isn't trespassing, I don't know what is." Brian Buckelew- spokesman for District Attorney Harris. Zoos now fear copycats. This event was just one of three total bear enclosure break-ins world wide within the past year. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman, Norby, Vacancy RJG:do 8/5/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED