BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1675
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1675 (Hagman)
As Amended August 9, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(April 22, |SENATE: |35-0 |(August 12, |
| | |2010) | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Creates an infraction or a misdemeanor for any person,
other than an employee, to trespass into an animal enclosure at a
zoo, circus or traveling animal exhibit.
The Senate amendments:
1)Expand the facilities to which the prohibition applies to include
circuses and traveling animal exhibits and adds an exemption for
public officers acting within the course and scope of his or her
employment.
2)Double-joint this bill with AB 451 (Portantino) and AB 1829 (Cook)
to avoid chaptering problems.
EXISTING LAW :
1)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, 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:
a) 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;
b) Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign, signboard, or
notice forbidding trespass or hunting on the lands;
c) Removes, injures, unlocks, or tampers with any lock on any
gate on or leading into the lands; or,
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d) Discharges any firearm.
2)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.
3)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.
4)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 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:
a) A first offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of $75;
b) 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; and,
c) 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.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill created an infraction or a
misdemeanor for any person, other than a zoo employee, to trespass
into an animal enclosure at a zoo, defined to include an aquarium or
tank for aquatic animals. Specifically, this bill :
1)Made it an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 or a
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misdemeanor punishable by up to six-months in the county jail, by a
fine not exceed $1,000, or both, for any person other than an
employee to enter an animal enclosure at a zoo, circus or traveling
animal exhibit where signs prohibiting entrance into the animal
enclosures have been posted, without the consent of the governing
authority or representative of the facility.
2)Created an exemption for an 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.
3)Defined "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.
4)Defined "animal enclosure" as the interior of any cage, stall,
container, pen, aquarium tank, or other discrete containment area
that is used to house or display an animal and that is not
generally accessible to the public.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Current trespassing law is not
fully protecting our zoos and in turn the endangered species they
protect. AB 1675 will help California zoos better protect their
animals and deter anyone who tries to harm them."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Milena Nelson / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0005800