Indiana 2025 Regular Session

Indiana Senate Bill SB0258 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	Introduced Version
3	3	SENATE BILL No. 258
4	4	_____
5	5	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
6	6	Citations Affected: IC 35-43-2-2.
7	7	Synopsis: Enforcement of trespassing laws. Provides that a person
8	8	who: (1) has previously been removed by a law enforcement officer
9	9	from a property for trespassing; or (2) has a prior conviction for
10	10	trespassing on the same property; commits criminal trespass if the
11	11	person enters the property or refuses to leave the property after having
12	12	been prohibited from entering or asked to leave the property by a law
13	13	enforcement officer.
14	14	Effective: July 1, 2025.
15	15	Alting
16	16	January 13, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal
17	17	Law.
18	18	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 Introduced
19	19	First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
20	20	PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
21	21	Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
22	22	additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
23	23	Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
24	24	provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
25	25	word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
26	26	a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
27	27	Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
28	28	between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
29	29	SENATE BILL No. 258
30	30	A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
31	31	criminal law and procedure.
32	32	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
33	33	1 SECTION 1. IC 35-43-2-2, AS AMENDED BY P.L.171-2024,
34	34	2 SECTION 6, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
35	35	3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 2. (a) As used in this section, "authorized person"
36	36	4 means a person authorized by an agricultural operation or a scientific
37	37	5 research facility to act on behalf of the agricultural operation or the
38	38	6 scientific research facility.
39	39	7 (b) A person who:
40	40	8 (1) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
41	41	9 intentionally enters the real property of another person after
42	42	10 having been denied entry by the other person or that person's
43	43	11 agent;
44	44	12 (2) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
45	45	13 intentionally refuses to leave the real property of another person
46	46	14 after having been asked to leave by the other person or that
47	47	15 person's agent;
48	48	16 (3) accompanies another person in a vehicle, with knowledge that
49	49	17 the other person knowingly or intentionally is exerting
50	50	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 2
51	51	1 unauthorized control over the vehicle;
52	52	2 (4) knowingly or intentionally interferes with the possession or
53	53	3 use of the property of another person without the person's consent;
54	54	4 (5) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
55	55	5 intentionally enters the:
56	56	6 (A) property of an agricultural operation that is used for the
57	57	7 production, processing, propagation, packaging, cultivation,
58	58	8 harvesting, care, management, or storage of an animal, plant,
59	59	9 or other agricultural product, including any pasturage or land
60	60	10 used for timber management, without the consent of the owner
61	61	11 of the agricultural operation or an authorized person; or
62	62	12 (B) dwelling of another person without the person's consent;
63	63	13 (6) knowingly or intentionally:
64	64	14 (A) travels by train without lawful authority or the railroad
65	65	15 carrier's consent; and
66	66	16 (B) rides on the outside of a train or inside a passenger car,
67	67	17 locomotive, or freight car, including a boxcar, flatbed, or
68	68	18 container without lawful authority or the railroad carrier's
69	69	19 consent;
70	70	20 (7) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
71	71	21 intentionally enters or refuses to leave the property of another
72	72	22 person after having been prohibited from entering or asked to
73	73	23 leave the property by a law enforcement officer when the property
74	74	24 is:
75	75	25 (A) vacant real property (as defined in IC 36-7-36-5) or a
76	76	26 vacant structure (as defined in IC 36-7-36-6); or
77	77	27 (B) designated by a municipality or county enforcement
78	78	28 authority to be:
79	79	29 (i) abandoned property or an abandoned structure (as
80	80	30 defined in IC 36-7-36-1); or
81	81	31 (ii) an unsafe building or an unsafe premises (as described
82	82	32 in IC 36-7-9);
83	83	33 (8) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
84	84	34 intentionally enters the real property of an agricultural operation
85	85	35 (as defined in IC 32-30-6-1) without the permission of the owner
86	86	36 of the agricultural operation or an authorized person, and
87	87	37 knowingly or intentionally engages in conduct that causes
88	88	38 property damage to:
89	89	39 (A) the owner of or a person having a contractual interest in
90	90	40 the agricultural operation;
91	91	41 (B) the operator of the agricultural operation; or
92	92	42 (C) a person having personal property located on the property
93	93	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 3
94	94	1 of the agricultural operation;
95	95	2 (9) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
96	96	3 intentionally enters the real property of a scientific research
97	97	4 facility (as defined in IC 35-31.5-2-287) without the permission
98	98	5 of, or with permission which was fraudulently obtained from, the
99	99	6 owner of the scientific research facility or an authorized person,
100	100	7 and knowingly or intentionally engages in conduct that causes
101	101	8 property damage to:
102	102	9 (A) the owner of or a person having a contractual interest in
103	103	10 the scientific research facility;
104	104	11 (B) the operator of the scientific research facility; or
105	105	12 (C) a person having personal property located on the property
106	106	13 of the scientific research facility;
107	107	14 (10) knowingly or intentionally enters the property of another
108	108	15 person after being denied entry by a court order that has been
109	109	16 issued to the person or issued to the general public by
110	110	17 conspicuous posting on or around the premises in areas where a
111	111	18 person can observe the order when the property has been
112	112	19 designated by a municipality or county enforcement authority to
113	113	20 be:
114	114	21 (A) a vacant property;
115	115	22 (B) an abandoned property;
116	116	23 (C) an abandoned structure (as defined in IC 36-7-36-1); or
117	117	24 (D) an unsafe building or an unsafe premises (as described in
118	118	25 IC 36-7-9);
119	119	26 (11) knowingly or intentionally enters or refuses to leave the polls
120	120	27 (as defined in IC 3-5-2-39) or chute (as defined in IC 3-5-2-10)
121	121	28 after having been prohibited from entering or asked to leave the
122	122	29 polls or chute by a precinct election officer (as defined in
123	123	30 IC 3-5-2-40.1) or a law enforcement officer acting on behalf of a
124	124	31 precinct election officer; or
125	125	32 (12) knowingly or intentionally:
126	126	33 (A) without permission or prior authorization, enters an area
127	127	34 of property that is locked; or
128	128	35 (B) refuses to leave an area of a property that is otherwise not
129	129	36 accessible to the public, after being asked to leave the area of
130	130	37 a property by a law enforcement officer or an employee or
131	131	38 agent of the owner or operator of the property; or
132	132	39 (13) not having a contractual interest in the property,
133	133	40 knowingly or intentionally enters or refuses to leave the
134	134	41 property of another person after having been prohibited from
135	135	42 entering or asked to leave the property by a law enforcement
136	136	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 4
137	137	1 officer, if:
138	138	2 (A) the person has previously been removed from the
139	139	3 property by a law enforcement officer for a violation of
140	140	4 this section (even if the person was not charged); or
141	141	5 (B) the person has a prior conviction for criminal trespass
142	142	6 on the same property;
143	143	7 commits criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor. However, the
144	144	8 offense is a Level 6 felony if it is committed on a scientific research
145	145	9 facility, on a facility belonging to a public utility (as defined in
146	146	10 IC 32-24-1-5.9(a)), on school property, or on a school bus or the person
147	147	11 has a prior unrelated conviction for an offense under this section
148	148	12 concerning the same property. The offense is a Level 6 felony, for
149	149	13 purposes of subdivision (8), if the property damage is more than seven
150	150	14 hundred fifty dollars ($750) and less than fifty thousand dollars
151	151	15 ($50,000). The offense is a Level 5 felony, for purposes of subdivisions
152	152	16 (8) and (9), if the property damage is at least fifty thousand dollars
153	153	17 ($50,000).
154	154	18 (c) A person has been denied entry under subsection (b)(1) when the
155	155	19 person has been denied entry by means of:
156	156	20 (1) personal communication, oral or written;
157	157	21 (2) posting or exhibiting a notice at the main entrance in a manner
158	158	22 that is either prescribed by law or likely to come to the attention
159	159	23 of the public;
160	160	24 (3) a hearing authority or court order under IC 32-30-6,
161	161	25 IC 32-30-7, IC 32-30-8, IC 36-7-9, or IC 36-7-36; or
162	162	26 (4) posting the property by placing identifying purple marks on
163	163	27 trees or posts around the area where entry is denied.
164	164	28 (d) For the purposes of subsection (c)(4):
165	165	29 (1) each purple mark must be readily visible to any person
166	166	30 approaching the property and must be placed:
167	167	31 (A) on a tree:
168	168	32 (i) as a vertical line of at least eight (8) inches in length and
169	169	33 with the bottom of the mark at least three (3) feet and not
170	170	34 more than five (5) feet from the ground; and
171	171	35 (ii) not more than one hundred (100) feet from the nearest
172	172	36 other marked tree; or
173	173	37 (B) on a post:
174	174	38 (i) with the mark covering at least the top two (2) inches of
175	175	39 the post, and with the bottom of the mark at least three (3)
176	176	40 feet and not more than five (5) feet six (6) inches from the
177	177	41 ground; and
178	178	42 (ii) not more than thirty-six (36) feet from the nearest other
179	179	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 5
180	180	1 marked post; and
181	181	2 (2) before a purple mark that would be visible from both sides of
182	182	3 a fence shared by different property owners or lessees may be
183	183	4 applied, all of the owners or lessees of the properties must agree
184	184	5 to post the properties with purple marks under subsection (c)(4).
185	185	6 (e) A law enforcement officer may not deny entry to property or ask
186	186	7 a person to leave a property under subsection (b)(7) unless there is
187	187	8 reasonable suspicion that criminal activity has occurred or is occurring.
188	188	9 (f) A person described in subsection (b)(7) or (b)(10) violates
189	189	10 subsection (b)(7) or (b)(10), as applicable, unless the person has the
190	190	11 written permission of the owner, the owner's agent, an enforcement
191	191	12 authority, or a court to come onto the property for purposes of
192	192	13 performing maintenance, repair, or demolition.
193	193	14 (g) A person described in subsection (b)(10) violates subsection
194	194	15 (b)(10) unless the court that issued the order denying the person entry
195	195	16 grants permission for the person to come onto the property.
196	196	17 (h) Subsections (b), (c), and (g) do not apply to the following:
197	197	18 (1) A passenger on a train.
198	198	19 (2) An employee of a railroad carrier while engaged in the
199	199	20 performance of official duties.
200	200	21 (3) A law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency response
201	201	22 personnel while engaged in the performance of official duties.
202	202	23 (4) A person going on railroad property in an emergency to rescue
203	203	24 a person or animal from harm's way or to remove an object that
204	204	25 the person reasonably believes poses an imminent threat to life or
205	205	26 limb.
206	206	27 (5) A person on the station grounds or in the depot of a railroad
207	207	28 carrier:
208	208	29 (A) as a passenger; or
209	209	30 (B) for the purpose of transacting lawful business.
210	210	31 (6) A:
211	211	32 (A) person; or
212	212	33 (B) person's:
213	213	34 (i) family member;
214	214	35 (ii) invitee;
215	215	36 (iii) employee;
216	216	37 (iv) agent; or
217	217	38 (v) independent contractor;
218	218	39 going on a railroad's right-of-way for the purpose of crossing at a
219	219	40 private crossing site approved by the railroad carrier to obtain
220	220	41 access to land that the person owns, leases, or operates.
221	221	42 (7) A person having written permission from the railroad carrier
222	222	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 6
223	223	1 to go on specified railroad property.
224	224	2 (8) A representative of the Indiana department of transportation
225	225	3 while engaged in the performance of official duties.
226	226	4 (9) A representative of the federal Railroad Administration while
227	227	5 engaged in the performance of official duties.
228	228	6 (10) A representative of the National Transportation Safety Board
229	229	7 while engaged in the performance of official duties.
230	230	2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106