AR
Arkansas House Bill HB1049

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1049 Compare Versions

OldNewDifferences
11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 238 of the Regular Session
3-*LGL006* 02-18-2025 10:56:50 LGL006
4-
5-State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H2/4/25 S2/13/25 S2/18/25 1
2+*LGL006* 11/21/2024 10:09:35 AM LGL006
3+State of Arkansas 1
64 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
75 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1049 3
86 4
9-By: Representatives Tosh, McGrew, Lundstrum, Andrews, Barker, Beaty Jr., Beck, Bentley, S. Berry, Brooks, K. 5
10-Brown, M. Brown, R. Burkes, Joey Carr, John Carr, Cavenaugh, Childress, C. Cooper, Cozart, Crawford, Duffield, 6
11-Duke, Eaves, Evans, Furman, Gonzales, Gramlich, Hawk, Holcomb, Hollowell, Jean, L. Johnson, Ladyman, Long, 7
12-Lynch, Maddox, J. Mayberry, McAlindon, McClure, M. McElroy, McNair, S. Meeks, Milligan, J. Moore, Painter, 8
13-Pearce, Puryear, Ray, R. Scott Richardson, Richmond, Rye, Schulz, M. Shepherd, Steimel, Unger, Vaught, Walker, 9
14-Warren, Wooten 10
15-By: Senator Caldwell 11
7+By: Representative Tosh 5
8+ 6
9+ 7
10+For An Act To Be Entitled 8
11+AN ACT TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING CRIMINAL 9
12+OFFENSES; TO CRIMINALIZE UNLAWFUL SQUATTING; AND FOR 10
13+OTHER PURPOSES. 11
1614 12
17-For An Act To Be Entitled 13
18-AN ACT TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING CRIMINAL 14
19-OFFENSES; TO CRIMINALIZE UNLAWFUL SQUATTING; AND FOR 15
20-OTHER PURPOSES. 16
15+ 13
16+Subtitle 14
17+TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING 15
18+CRIMINAL OFFENSES; AND TO CRIMINALIZE 16
19+UNLAWFUL SQUATTING. 17
20+ 18
21+BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
22+ 20
23+ SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 5, Chapter 39, Subchapter 2, is amended 21
24+to add an additional section to read as follows: 22
25+ 5-39-215. Unlawful squatting. 23
26+ (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful squatting if he or she: 24
27+ (1) Knowingly enters upon the premises of another person; 25
28+ (2) Knowingly resides on the premises of the other person under 26
29+(a)(1) of this section for any period of time; 27
30+ (3) Knowingly acts without lawful authority under subdivisions 28
31+(a)(1) and (2) of this section; and 29
32+ (4) Cannot produce at least one (1) of the following documents: 30
33+ (A) A deed or mortgage statement in his or her name; 31
34+ (B) A lease agreement that includes the name and signature 32
35+of the other person or an authorized representative of the other person; or 33
36+ (C) A receipt or other reliable evidence of rent payment 34
37+paid to the other person or an authorized representative of the other person 35
38+dated within the last sixty (60) days. 36 HB1049
39+
40+ 2 11/21/2024 10:09:35 AM
41+ (b) Unlawful squatting is a Class B misdemeanor. 1
42+ (c) A law enforcement agency shall not accept a report of unlawful 2
43+squatting unless the report is by an owner of the premises or an authorized 3
44+representative of the owner. 4
45+ 5
46+ 6
47+ 7
48+ 8
49+ 9
50+ 10
51+ 11
52+ 12
53+ 13
54+ 14
55+ 15
56+ 16
2157 17
2258 18
23-Subtitle 19
24-TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING 20
25-CRIMINAL OFFENSES; AND TO CRIMINALIZE 21
26-UNLAWFUL SQUATTING. 22
59+ 19
60+ 20
61+ 21
62+ 22
2763 23
28-BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
64+ 24
2965 25
30- SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 5 -39-101(8), concerning the definitions for 26
31-offenses of burglary, trespass, and other intrusions, is amended to read as 27
32-follows: 28
33- (8) “Premises” means , except as provided in § 5 -39-215, an 29
34-occupiable structure and any real property; 30
66+ 26
67+ 27
68+ 28
69+ 29
70+ 30
3571 31
36- SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 5, Chapter 39, Subchapter 2, is amended 32
37-to add an additional section to read as follows: 33
38- 5-39-215. Unlawful squatting. 34
39- (a) As used in this section: 35
40- (1) "Immediate family" means a person's spouse, children, 36 As Engrossed: H2/4/25 S2/13/25 S2/18/25 HB1049
41-
42- 2 02-18-2025 10:56:50 LGL006
43-
44-
45-parents or guardian, siblings, and grandparents, whether related by blood, 1
46-adoption, or marriage; 2
47- (2) "Premises" means a dwelling, commercial building, or vacant 3
48-or unimproved real property; and 4
49- (3)(A) "Unlawful squatting" means entering and residing 5
50-unlawfully in a premises when the person entering and residing in the 6
51-premises is not privileged or licensed to do so. 7
52- (B) "Unlawful squatting" includes without limitation 8
53-taking up residence in a premises a person does not own if he or she: 9
54- (i) Is not a current tenant at the premises; 10
55- (ii) Does not have a valid agreement to occupy the 11
56-premises; and 12
57- (iii) Is not an immediate family member of the owner 13
58-of the premises. 14
59- (b) A person commits the offense of unlawful squatting if: 15
60- (1) The person: 16
61- (A) Knowingly enters upon the premises of another person; 17
62- (B) Knowingly resides on the premises of the other person 18
63-under subdivision (b)(1)(A) of this section for any period of time; 19
64- (C) Knowingly acts without lawful authority under 20
65-subdivisions (b)(1)(A) and (B) of this section; and 21
66- (D) Cannot produce at least one (1) of the following 22
67-documents: 23
68- (i) A deed or mortgage statement in his or her name 24
69-for the premises; 25
70- (ii) A lease agreement that includes the name and 26
71-signature of the other person or an authorized representative of the other 27
72-person; 28
73- (iii) A valid written or electronic agreement or 29
74-communication authorizing the person to enter upon the premises; or 30
75- (iv) A receipt or other reliable evidence of a rent 31
76-payment made to the other person or an authorized representative of the other 32
77-person dated within the last sixty (60) days; 33
78- (2) The premises the person enters upon is not open to the 34
79-public at the time of entry; 35
80- (3) The owner of the premises has directed the person entering 36 As Engrossed: H2/4/25 S2/13/25 S2/18/25 HB1049
81-
82- 3 02-18-2025 10:56:50 LGL006
83-
84-
85-upon the premises to leave the premises or has contacted law enforcement to 1
86-make a report of unlawful squatting; and 2
87- (4) No pending litigation exists between the owner of the 3
88-premises and the person entering upon the premises. 4
89- (c) A law enforcement agency shall not accept a report of unlawful 5
90-squatting unless the report is by an: 6
91- (1) Owner of the premises upon which the unlawful squatting 7
92-occurred; or 8
93- (2) Authorized representative of the owner of the premises upon 9
94-which the unlawful squatting occurred. 10
95- (d) A law enforcement officer acting in good faith in response to a 11
96-report of a violation of this section is immune from criminal and civil 12
97-liability. 13
98- (e)(1) Unlawful squatting is a Class B misdemeanor. 14
99- (2) A second offense of unlawful squatting is a Class A 15
100-misdemeanor. 16
101- (3) A third offense of unlawful squatting is a Class D felony. 17
102- (f) If a person who has entered upon the premises of another person 18
103-knowingly provides a false document in response to a request to produce a 19
104-document under subdivision (b)(1)(D) of this section or otherwise produces a 20
105-false document as justification for his or her presence on the premises, the 21
106-person is guilty upon conviction of a Class D felony. 22
107- (g) A person aggrieved by a violation of this section is granted a 23
108-private cause of action against the person who violated this section and is 24
109-entitled to recover damages, including without limitation restitution, and 25
110-reasonable attorney's fees. 26
111- 27
112- SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 5 -54-122(c)(1), concerning Class D felony 28
113-offenses of filing a false report, is amended to add an additional 29
114-subdivision to read as follows: 30
115- (G) The false report alleges the offense of unlawful 31
116-squatting. 32
117-/s/Tosh 33
72+ 32
73+ 33
11874 34
119-APPROVED: 3/4/25 35
75+ 35
12076 36