BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1686| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1686 Author: Medina (D) Amended: 8/5/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 5/13/14 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, De León, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Knight ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 4/1/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Trespass: requests for law enforcement assistance SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill provides that where the owner, owner's agent or person in lawful possession of land or a structure that is not open to the public, and posted as such, requests law enforcement assistance in demanding that trespassers leave the property, the request shall remain valid for one year. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/5/14 add jointing amendments to protect SB 1295 (Block) if this bill is signed after SB 1295. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Includes numerous provisions defining various forms of trespass and trespass penalties. The crime definitions and CONTINUED AB 1686 Page 2 penalties typically turn on whether any damage has been done to the property and whether the trespasser refuses a valid request to leave the property. 2.Provides that any person is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a county jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, who enters any other person's cultivated or fenced land, or who enters uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to the mile along exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the lands without written permission, and does any of the following: A. Refuses or fails to leave immediately upon being requested to do so by the owner, owner's agent or by the person in lawful possession. B. Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign or notice forbidding trespass or hunting. C. Removes or tampers with any lock on any gate on or leading into the lands. D. Discharges a firearm. 3.Provides that a person commits one form of trespass to cultivated, fenced or posted land, where he/she, without the written permission of the landowner, the owner's agent or of the person in lawful possession of the land: A. Willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by another person; or B. Willfully enters 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. 4.Provides that trespassing - in circumstances other than where the person refuses a valid order to leave the premises, destroys a no-trespassing or no-hunting sign, tampers with any lock, or discharges a firearm - is an infraction or a misdemeanor, as follows: CONTINUED AB 1686 Page 3 A. First offense is an infraction, punishable by a fine of $75. B. Second offense on any contiguous land of the same owner is an infraction, punishable by a fine of $250. C. A third or subsequent offense on any contiguous land of the same owner is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months; by fine not exceed $1,000; or both. 5.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. 6.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/she is acting with such authority. This bill: 1.Provides where the owner, owner's agent or person in lawful possession of land or a structure seeks law enforcement assistance in requesting that trespassers leave property that is not open to the public and on which no-trespassing notice has been posted, the request shall remain for one year. 2.Contains jointing amendments to protect SB 1295 (Block) if this bill is signed after SB 1295. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/14) California Police Chiefs Association California State Sheriffs' Association Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association CONTINUED AB 1686 Page 4 OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/6/14) Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : California State Sheriffs' Association states, "Current law allows property owners to fill out a Trespass Arrest Authorization form to keep on file with the local police department, which is valid for six months. This form gives officers the authority to enter the property and, if trespassers are found, to contact the owner of record for verification and make an arrest without the owner present. The extension proposed in AB 1686 would strengthen the authorization of the form and reduce administrative time spent on processing." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety states, "Peace officers in the field do not have the ability to determine if an individual who is purportedly trespassing is in fact claiming ownership pursuant to adverse possession. How can a peace officer determine if the purported trespasser claims title by adverse possession has paid the property taxes, has openly resided on the premises for seven years, etc.? This legislation asks a peace officer to adjudicate a property dispute in the field based upon conflicting claims without the benefit of a trial in unlawful detainer." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 4/1/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonta, Gorell, Wagner JG:k 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses CONTINUED AB 1686 Page 5 SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED