Introduced Version
SENATE BILL No. 258
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 35-43-2-2.
Synopsis: Enforcement of trespassing laws. Provides that a person
who: (1) has previously been removed by a law enforcement officer
from a property for trespassing; or (2) has a prior conviction for
trespassing on the same property; commits criminal trespass if the
person enters the property or refuses to leave the property after having
been prohibited from entering or asked to leave the property by a law
enforcement officer.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Alting
January 13, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal
Law.
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
SENATE BILL No. 258
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
criminal law and procedure.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 35-43-2-2, AS AMENDED BY P.L.171-2024,
2 SECTION 6, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 2. (a) As used in this section, "authorized person"
4 means a person authorized by an agricultural operation or a scientific
5 research facility to act on behalf of the agricultural operation or the
6 scientific research facility.
7 (b) A person who:
8 (1) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
9 intentionally enters the real property of another person after
10 having been denied entry by the other person or that person's
11 agent;
12 (2) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
13 intentionally refuses to leave the real property of another person
14 after having been asked to leave by the other person or that
15 person's agent;
16 (3) accompanies another person in a vehicle, with knowledge that
17 the other person knowingly or intentionally is exerting
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 2
1 unauthorized control over the vehicle;
2 (4) knowingly or intentionally interferes with the possession or
3 use of the property of another person without the person's consent;
4 (5) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
5 intentionally enters the:
6 (A) property of an agricultural operation that is used for the
7 production, processing, propagation, packaging, cultivation,
8 harvesting, care, management, or storage of an animal, plant,
9 or other agricultural product, including any pasturage or land
10 used for timber management, without the consent of the owner
11 of the agricultural operation or an authorized person; or
12 (B) dwelling of another person without the person's consent;
13 (6) knowingly or intentionally:
14 (A) travels by train without lawful authority or the railroad
15 carrier's consent; and
16 (B) rides on the outside of a train or inside a passenger car,
17 locomotive, or freight car, including a boxcar, flatbed, or
18 container without lawful authority or the railroad carrier's
19 consent;
20 (7) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
21 intentionally enters or refuses to leave the property of another
22 person after having been prohibited from entering or asked to
23 leave the property by a law enforcement officer when the property
24 is:
25 (A) vacant real property (as defined in IC 36-7-36-5) or a
26 vacant structure (as defined in IC 36-7-36-6); or
27 (B) designated by a municipality or county enforcement
28 authority to be:
29 (i) abandoned property or an abandoned structure (as
30 defined in IC 36-7-36-1); or
31 (ii) an unsafe building or an unsafe premises (as described
32 in IC 36-7-9);
33 (8) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
34 intentionally enters the real property of an agricultural operation
35 (as defined in IC 32-30-6-1) without the permission of the owner
36 of the agricultural operation or an authorized person, and
37 knowingly or intentionally engages in conduct that causes
38 property damage to:
39 (A) the owner of or a person having a contractual interest in
40 the agricultural operation;
41 (B) the operator of the agricultural operation; or
42 (C) a person having personal property located on the property
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 3
1 of the agricultural operation;
2 (9) not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or
3 intentionally enters the real property of a scientific research
4 facility (as defined in IC 35-31.5-2-287) without the permission
5 of, or with permission which was fraudulently obtained from, the
6 owner of the scientific research facility or an authorized person,
7 and knowingly or intentionally engages in conduct that causes
8 property damage to:
9 (A) the owner of or a person having a contractual interest in
10 the scientific research facility;
11 (B) the operator of the scientific research facility; or
12 (C) a person having personal property located on the property
13 of the scientific research facility;
14 (10) knowingly or intentionally enters the property of another
15 person after being denied entry by a court order that has been
16 issued to the person or issued to the general public by
17 conspicuous posting on or around the premises in areas where a
18 person can observe the order when the property has been
19 designated by a municipality or county enforcement authority to
20 be:
21 (A) a vacant property;
22 (B) an abandoned property;
23 (C) an abandoned structure (as defined in IC 36-7-36-1); or
24 (D) an unsafe building or an unsafe premises (as described in
25 IC 36-7-9);
26 (11) knowingly or intentionally enters or refuses to leave the polls
27 (as defined in IC 3-5-2-39) or chute (as defined in IC 3-5-2-10)
28 after having been prohibited from entering or asked to leave the
29 polls or chute by a precinct election officer (as defined in
30 IC 3-5-2-40.1) or a law enforcement officer acting on behalf of a
31 precinct election officer; or
32 (12) knowingly or intentionally:
33 (A) without permission or prior authorization, enters an area
34 of property that is locked; or
35 (B) refuses to leave an area of a property that is otherwise not
36 accessible to the public, after being asked to leave the area of
37 a property by a law enforcement officer or an employee or
38 agent of the owner or operator of the property; or
39 (13) not having a contractual interest in the property,
40 knowingly or intentionally enters or refuses to leave the
41 property of another person after having been prohibited from
42 entering or asked to leave the property by a law enforcement
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 4
1 officer, if:
2 (A) the person has previously been removed from the
3 property by a law enforcement officer for a violation of
4 this section (even if the person was not charged); or
5 (B) the person has a prior conviction for criminal trespass
6 on the same property;
7 commits criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor. However, the
8 offense is a Level 6 felony if it is committed on a scientific research
9 facility, on a facility belonging to a public utility (as defined in
10 IC 32-24-1-5.9(a)), on school property, or on a school bus or the person
11 has a prior unrelated conviction for an offense under this section
12 concerning the same property. The offense is a Level 6 felony, for
13 purposes of subdivision (8), if the property damage is more than seven
14 hundred fifty dollars ($750) and less than fifty thousand dollars
15 ($50,000). The offense is a Level 5 felony, for purposes of subdivisions
16 (8) and (9), if the property damage is at least fifty thousand dollars
17 ($50,000).
18 (c) A person has been denied entry under subsection (b)(1) when the
19 person has been denied entry by means of:
20 (1) personal communication, oral or written;
21 (2) posting or exhibiting a notice at the main entrance in a manner
22 that is either prescribed by law or likely to come to the attention
23 of the public;
24 (3) a hearing authority or court order under IC 32-30-6,
25 IC 32-30-7, IC 32-30-8, IC 36-7-9, or IC 36-7-36; or
26 (4) posting the property by placing identifying purple marks on
27 trees or posts around the area where entry is denied.
28 (d) For the purposes of subsection (c)(4):
29 (1) each purple mark must be readily visible to any person
30 approaching the property and must be placed:
31 (A) on a tree:
32 (i) as a vertical line of at least eight (8) inches in length and
33 with the bottom of the mark at least three (3) feet and not
34 more than five (5) feet from the ground; and
35 (ii) not more than one hundred (100) feet from the nearest
36 other marked tree; or
37 (B) on a post:
38 (i) with the mark covering at least the top two (2) inches of
39 the post, and with the bottom of the mark at least three (3)
40 feet and not more than five (5) feet six (6) inches from the
41 ground; and
42 (ii) not more than thirty-six (36) feet from the nearest other
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 5
1 marked post; and
2 (2) before a purple mark that would be visible from both sides of
3 a fence shared by different property owners or lessees may be
4 applied, all of the owners or lessees of the properties must agree
5 to post the properties with purple marks under subsection (c)(4).
6 (e) A law enforcement officer may not deny entry to property or ask
7 a person to leave a property under subsection (b)(7) unless there is
8 reasonable suspicion that criminal activity has occurred or is occurring.
9 (f) A person described in subsection (b)(7) or (b)(10) violates
10 subsection (b)(7) or (b)(10), as applicable, unless the person has the
11 written permission of the owner, the owner's agent, an enforcement
12 authority, or a court to come onto the property for purposes of
13 performing maintenance, repair, or demolition.
14 (g) A person described in subsection (b)(10) violates subsection
15 (b)(10) unless the court that issued the order denying the person entry
16 grants permission for the person to come onto the property.
17 (h) Subsections (b), (c), and (g) do not apply to the following:
18 (1) A passenger on a train.
19 (2) An employee of a railroad carrier while engaged in the
20 performance of official duties.
21 (3) A law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency response
22 personnel while engaged in the performance of official duties.
23 (4) A person going on railroad property in an emergency to rescue
24 a person or animal from harm's way or to remove an object that
25 the person reasonably believes poses an imminent threat to life or
26 limb.
27 (5) A person on the station grounds or in the depot of a railroad
28 carrier:
29 (A) as a passenger; or
30 (B) for the purpose of transacting lawful business.
31 (6) A:
32 (A) person; or
33 (B) person's:
34 (i) family member;
35 (ii) invitee;
36 (iii) employee;
37 (iv) agent; or
38 (v) independent contractor;
39 going on a railroad's right-of-way for the purpose of crossing at a
40 private crossing site approved by the railroad carrier to obtain
41 access to land that the person owns, leases, or operates.
42 (7) A person having written permission from the railroad carrier
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106 6
1 to go on specified railroad property.
2 (8) A representative of the Indiana department of transportation
3 while engaged in the performance of official duties.
4 (9) A representative of the federal Railroad Administration while
5 engaged in the performance of official duties.
6 (10) A representative of the National Transportation Safety Board
7 while engaged in the performance of official duties.
2025 IN 258—LS 6737/DI 106