Bill Text: NJ S740 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Revises elements of offense of agricultural trespass, expands number and type of activities constituting agricultural trespass, and expands definition of "lands" susceptible to agricultural trespass.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee [S740 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S740-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator DOUGLAS J. STEINHARDT
District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
Revises elements of offense of agricultural trespass, expands number and type of activities constituting agricultural trespass, and expands definition of "lands" susceptible to agricultural trespass.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the offense of agricultural trespass, and amending P.L.1983, c.522 and R.S.4:17-2.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1983, c.522 (C.2C:18-4) is amended to read as follows:
1. As used in this act, "lands" means:
a. agricultural or horticultural lands devoted to the production [for] or sale of plants and animals useful to man[, encompassing];
b. plowed or tilled fields, as well as their standing crops or [their] the residues[,] therefrom;
c. cranberry bogs and appurtenant dams, dikes, canals, ditches, and pump houses, including impoundments, man-made reservoirs, and the [adjacent] shorelines adjacent thereto[,];
d. orchards[,];
e. nurseries[, and];
f. lands with a maintained fence for the purpose of restraining domestic livestock[. "Lands" shall also include];
g. lands in agricultural use, as defined in section 3 of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-13), [where public notice prohibiting trespass is given by actual communication to the actor, conspicuous posting, or fencing or other enclosure manifestly designed to exclude intruders], meaning that the lands are used for common farmsite activities, including, but not limited to, the production, harvesting, storage, grading, packaging, processing, or wholesale or retail marketing of crops, plants, animals, and other related commodities, and the use and application of techniques and methods of soil preparation and management, fertilization, weed, disease, and pest control, disposal of farm waste, irrigation, drainage and water management, or grazing;
h. appurtenant woodland that is contiguous to, a part of, or beneficial to, another tract of land to which the woodland is supportive and subordinate, which other tract of land has at least five acres devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses, including the production, for sale, of Christmas trees, but excluding the production, for sale, of other trees or forest products; and
i. land that is appurtenant to any of the aforementioned lands and is used for the maintenance or storage of agricultural equipment.
(cf: P.L.1983, c.522, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1983, c.522 (C.2C:18-5) is amended as follows:
2. It is an offense under P.L.1983, c.522 (C.2C:18-4 et seq.) to:
a. [Knowingly or recklessly operate a motorized vehicle or to ride horseback] encroach upon the lands of another by entering or remaining on such lands, whether on foot, while riding horseback, while using a motorized or non-motorized vehicle, while operating motorized or non-motorized equipment, or otherwise, without obtaining and being in possession of the written permission of the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee [thereof.]of the lands; or
b. [Knowingly or recklessly] damage or injure any tangible property located on the lands of another, including, but not limited to, any fence, building, [feedstocks] equipment, feedstock, [crops] crop, [live trees] tree, or [any] domestic [animals,] animal located on [the] such lands [of another].
(cf: P.L.2018, c.121, s.1)
3. R.S.4:17-2 is amended to read as follows:
4:17-2. a. Except as provided otherwise pursuant to subsection b. of this section, any person who trespasses upon the agricultural or horticultural lands of another [is] shall be liable to a civil penalty of not less than [$100.00] $100.
b. In addition to any other applicable fines, penalties, or restitution that may be assessed pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1983, c.522 (C.2C:18-6) or any other law, if any person [who knowingly or recklessly operates] operates a motorized vehicle, operates motorized equipment, or rides horseback upon the lands of another without obtaining and being in possession of the written permission of the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee thereof, or damages or injures any tangible property located on the lands of another, including, but not limited to, any fence, building, [feedstocks] equipment, feedstock, [crops] crop, [live trees] tree, or [any] domestic [animals,] animal located on [the] such lands [of another], such person shall be liable to:
(1) a civil penalty of not less than $1,000; and
(2) the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee of the lands for any reasonable and necessary expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred by the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee to ensure that the lands and tangible property are restored to their condition prior to commission of the offense.
The court shall make a finding of the amount of expenses incurred and damages sustained, and shall order the defendant to pay as appropriate.
c. Any civil penalty imposed pursuant to subsection a. or b. of this section shall be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court and the municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999." If the violation is of a continuing nature, each day during which it continues shall constitute an additional, separate, and distinct offense.
d. Nothing in this article shall relieve the owners of agricultural or horticultural lands from the obligation to [provide] post conspicuous [posting] notice prohibiting trespass on the waters, or on the banks along or around any waters, which are listed for stocking with fish in the current [fish code] State Fish and Game Code, adopted pursuant to section 32 of P.L.1948, c.448 (C.13:1B-30), before a trespass violation may be found to have occurred on such banks or in or on such waters.
e. As used in this article, "agricultural or horticultural lands" means [lands devoted to the production for sale of plants and animals useful to man, encompassing plowed or tilled fields, standing crops or their residues, cranberry bogs and appurtenant dams, dikes, canals, ditches and pump houses, including impoundments, man-made reservoirs and the adjacent shorelines thereto, orchards, nurseries and lands with a maintained fence for the purpose of restraining domestic livestock. "Agricultural or horticultural lands" shall also include lands in agricultural use, as defined in section 3 of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-13) where public notice prohibiting trespass is given by actual communication to the actor, conspicuous posting, or fencing or other enclosure manifestly designed to exclude intruders] the same as that term is defined by section 1 of P.L.1983, c.522 (C.2C:18-4).
(cf: P.L.2018, c.121, s.3)
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would revise the law pertaining to the offense of agricultural trespass. Current law provides that a person commits the crime of agricultural trespass if the person either: (1) knowingly or recklessly operates a motorized vehicle or rides horseback upon the lands of another without obtaining and possessing the written permission of the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee of the lands; or (2) knowingly or recklessly damages or injures any tangible property, including any fence, building, feedstocks, crops, trees, or domestic animals, located on the lands of another. Current law also provides for the imposition of a civil penalty in cases where a person knowingly or recklessly engages in these activities.
This bill would eliminate the law's provisions requiring knowledge or recklessness to be established as an element of the offense of agricultural trespass, and it would additionally expand the types of activities that will be deemed to constitute such offense. Specifically, under the bill's provisions, a person would be deemed to have committed the crime of agricultural trespass, and would additionally be subject to a civil penalty for agricultural trespass, if the person: (1) encroaches upon the lands of another by entering or remaining on such lands, whether on foot, while riding horseback, while using a motorized or non-motorized vehicle, while operating motorized or non-motorized equipment, or otherwise, without obtaining and being in possession of the written permission of the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee of the lands; or (2) damages or injures any tangible property, including, any fence, building, equipment, feedstock, crop, tree, or domestic animal, which is located on the lands of another. The bill would further clarify that nothing in the law will relieve the owners of agricultural or horticultural lands from the obligation to post conspicuous notice prohibiting trespass on the waters, or on the banks along or around any waters, which are listed for stocking with fish in the current State Fish and Game Code, adopted pursuant to section 32 of P.L.1948, c.448 (C.13:1B-30), before a trespass violation may be found to have occurred on such banks or in or on such waters.
Under the bill's provisions, and consistent with existing law, any person who trespasses upon the agricultural or horticultural lands of another would be subject to a civil penalty of at least $100, and any person who operates a motorized vehicle, operates motorized equipment, or rides horseback upon the lands of another without obtaining and being in possession of the written permission of the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee thereof, or who damages or injures any tangible property located on the lands of another, including, but not limited to, any fence, building, equipment, feedstock, crop, tree, or domestic animal, would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 and the payment of attorneys' fees, which penalties would be in addition to any other fines, penalties, or restitution that may be imposed pursuant to the law.
Finally, the bill would amend the existing statutory definitions of "lands" that are subject to agricultural trespass, in order to clarify those definitions, facilitate ease of reading, and expand the definitions to include the following types of land: (1) appurtenant woodland, which is contiguous to, a part of, or beneficial to, another tract of land to which the woodland is supportive and subordinate, which other tract of land has at least five acres devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses including the production, for sale, of Christmas trees, but excluding the production, for sale, of other trees or forest products; and (2) land that is appurtenant to the above-described appurtenant woodland or to any other types of lands already susceptible to agricultural trespass under the applicable statutory definitions, provided that such appurtenant land is used for the maintenance or storage of agricultural equipment.
