BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1295|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1295
Author: Block (D), et al.
Amended: 8/11/14
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/29/14
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Knight, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: De Le�n
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 5/29/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara,
Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/14/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Trespass: requests for law enforcement assistance
SOURCE : Ocean Beach Main Street Association
DIGEST : This bill extends from six months to a period not to
exceed 12 months, the time in which a property owner may
authorize a peace officer to arrest a trespasser on private
property that is closed to the public and posted as being
closed, without the owner of the property being present; and
provides that a request for assistance shall expire upon
transfer of ownership of the property or upon change of the
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person in lawful possession.
Assembly Amendments specify that the period a property owner can
authorize a peace officer to arrest a trespasser cannot exceed
12 months.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Includes numerous provisions defining various forms of
trespass and trespass penalties. The crime definitions and
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 $1000, 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; or
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
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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. States that a single request for a peace officer's assistance
may be made for a period not to exceed six-months when the
premises or property is closed to the public and posted as
being closed.
This bill:
1. Removes the six-month limit for a peace officer's assistance,
as specified, and instead makes the request for a peace
officer's assistance valid for a period not to exceed 12
months when the premises or property is close to the public
and posted as being closed.
2. Provides that the requestor shall inform the law enforcement
agency to which the request was made when the assistance is
no longer desired.
3. States that the request for assistance shall expire upon
transfer of ownership of the property or upon a change in the
person in lawful possession.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/14/14)
Ocean Beach Main Street Association (source)
San Diego Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/14/14)
California Public Defenders Association
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Ocean Beach Main Street Association
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states, "that amending the Penal Code Section [602(o)] would
reduce paperwork for both small businesses and local police
departments. SB 1295 adds no new law enforcement authority or
penalties for trespassers. It merely removes the burden of
frequent renewal for the property owner and processing for law
enforcement."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Public Defenders
Association states, "This appears to be a technical requirement
that has to be shown before someone can successfully be
prosecuted for trespass, accordingly, the [r]eason to remove the
existing requirement would be to make it easier to prosecute
someone for trespass. A large number of our clients are
homeless and "trespass" especially on land that has been vacant
for 6 months or more."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/14/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Perea, Vacancy
JG:d 8/14/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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