From the beginning I said it would be nice if the onus wasn't on landowners to have to post against trespass. At the very same time language should be written saying hunting is not trespass. SB 2315 was divided into Division A and Division B at the very last minute. That kind of blew up the carriers preparation. What passed yesterday:
19.0896.02009
Sixty-sixth
Legislative Assembly
of North Dakota
Introduced by
Senators Erbele, Patten, Unruh
Representatives Boe, Schmidt, Westlind
A BILL for an Act to create and enact chapter 20.1-18 of the North Dakota Century Code,
relating to a database identifying whether private land is open to hunters; to amend and reenact
sections 12.1-22-03, 20.1-01-17, 20.1-01-18, 20.1-01-19, 20.1-01-20, and 20.1-03-42 of the
North Dakota Century Code, relating to criminal trespass and hunting on private land; to provide
a statement of legislative intent; to provide for a legislative management study of access to
land; and to provide a penalty to repeal sections 20.1-01-17 and 20.1-01-20; to provide for a
report to the legislative management and interim legislative committees; to provide a penalty; to
provide a contingent effective date; to provide a contingent expiration date; and to declare an
emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 12.1-22-03 of the North Dakota Century Code is
amended and reenacted as follows:
12.1-22-03. Criminal trespass - Noncriminal offense on posted property.
1. An individual is guilty of a class C felony if, knowing that that individual is not licensed
or privileged to do so, the individual enters or remains in a dwelling or in highly
secured premises.
2. An individual is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, knowing that that the individual is
not licensed or privileged to do so, the individual:
a. Enters or remains in or on any building, occupied structure, or storage
structure, or separately secured or occupied portion thereof; or
b. Enters or remains in any place so enclosed as manifestly to exclude intruders of a
building or structure, or any other place the individual is not licensed or privileged
to be, except as provided in subsection 3 and sections 20.1 - 01 - 18, 20.1 - 01 - 19 ,
and 20.1 - 03 - 42 , and 20.1 - 18 - 03 .
Page No. 1 19.0896.02009
3. a. An individual is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if, knowing that that individual is
not licensed or privileged to do so, the individual enters or remains in any place
as to which notice against trespass is given by actual communication to the actor
by the individual in charge of the premises or other authorized individual or by
posting in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders. The
name of the person posting the premises must appear on each sign in legible
characters.
b. Even if the conduct of the owner, tenant, or individual authorized by the owner
varies from the provisions of subdivision a, an individual may be found guilty of
violating subdivision a if the owner, tenant, or individual authorized by the owner
substantially complied with subdivision a and notice against trespass is clear
from the circumstances.
c. An individual who violates subdivision a is guilty of a class A misdemeanor for the
second or subsequent offense within a two-year period.
4. a. An individual, knowing the individual is not licensed or privileged to do so, may
not enter or remain in a place as to which notice against trespass is given by
posting in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruder on
property that is privately owned and open to the public after being requested to
leave the property by a duly authorized individual. A violation of this subdivision is
a noncriminal offense.
b. A peace officer shall cite an individual who violates subdivision a or commits a
noncriminal offense under section 20.1-01-18 with a fine of two hundred fifty
dollars for each violation.
c. The peace officer citing the individual shall:
(1) Take the name and address of the individual; and
(2) Notify the individual of the right to request a hearing if posting bond by mail.
d. The peace officer may not take the individual into custody or require the
individual to proceed with the peace officer to any other location for the purpose
of posting bond. The officer shall provide the individual with an envelope for use
in mailing the bond.
e. An individual cited may appear before the designated official and pay the
statutory fine for the violation at or before the time scheduled for hearing.
f. If the individual has posted bond, the individual may forfeit bond by not appearing
at the designated time.
g. If the individual posts bond by mail, the bond must be submitted within fourteen
days of the date of the citation and the individual cited shall indicate on the
envelope or citation whether a hearing is requested. If the individual does not
request a hearing within fourteen days of the date of the citation, the bond is
deemed forfeited and the individual is deemed to have admitted to the violation
and to have waived the right to a hearing on the issue of commission of the
violation. If the individual requests a hearing, the court for the county in which the
citation is issued shall issue a summons to the individual requesting the hearing
notifying the individual of the date of the hearing before the designated official.
h. Upon appearing at the hearing scheduled in the citation or otherwise scheduled
at the individual's request, the individual may make a statement in explanation of
the individual's action. The official may at that time waive or suspend the statutory
fine or bond.
i. A citing peace officer may not receive the statutory fine or bond.
j. The bond required to secure appearance before the judge must be identical to
the statutory fine established in subdivision b.
5. An individual is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if that individual remains upon the
property of another after being requested to leave the property by a duly authorized
individual. An individual who violates this subsection is guilty of a class A
misdemeanor for the second or subsequent offense within a two-year period.
6.4. This section does not apply to a:
a. A peace officer in the course of discharging the peace officer's official duties; or
b. An individual who enters land to access buried and aboveground infrastructure
for operations, inspection, repair, or maintenance purposes, if the individual has a
right to operate, inspect, repair, or maintain the infrastructure.
SECTION 4. AMENDMENT. Section 20.1-01-18 of the North Dakota Century Code is
amended and reenacted as follows:
20.1-01-18. Hunting on posted land and trapping on private land without permission
unlawful - Penalty.
No individual may hunt or pursue game, or enter for those purposes, upon legally
posted land belonging to another without first obtaining the permission of the person legally
entitled to grant the same permission, unless the land is legally posted or the individual is
requested to leave by a duly authorized person. No person A person may not enter upon
privately owned land for the purpose of trapping protected fur-bearing animals without first
gaining the written permission of the owner or operator of that land. A person who violates this
section is guilty of a class B misdemeanor noncriminal offense subject to the fines and
procedures under subsection 3 of section 12.1-22-03 for the first offense and a class A
misdemeanor for a subsequent offense within a two-year period unless the land is designated
as closed to hunters or open to hunters with permission under section 20.1 - 18 - 02 or the land is legally posted in accordance with section 20.1 - 01 - 17 .
SECTION 7. AMENDMENT. Section 20.1-01-20 of the North Dakota Century Code is
amended and reenacted as follows:
20.1-01-20. Entering posted private land with a hunting license and a gun or firearm
prima facie evidence of intent to hunt game. Proof that a person having an individua l had a firearm, or other weapon declared legal by governor's proclamation, in the person's possession and a valid license to hunt game in the
relevant area when the individua l or a group including the individua l entered upon the legally posted private premises of another without permission of the owner or tenant is prima facie evidence the person individua l or the group including the individua l entered to hunt or pursue game.
SECTION 8. AMENDMENT. Section 20.1-03-42 of the North Dakota Century Code is
amended and reenacted as follows:
20.1-03-42. Guiding on prohibited lands.
1. A person may not act as a hunting guide or hunting outfitter on land the person knows
is owned by the state unless the appropriate state agency permits or authorizes the
guiding or outfitting, on private land enrolled by the department for purposes of
hunting, on land in which the department pays in lieu of taxes, or on federal lands
without being authorized or permitted as required by the appropriate federal agency,
or.
2. A person may not act as a hunting guide or outfitter on private lands that are posted
against hunting or trespassing under section 20.1 - 01 - 17 or private lands that are
designated as closed to hunters or open to hunters with permission under section
20.1 - 18 - 02 , without first informing and obtaining permission from the landowner to
conduct guiding or outfitting on the land. If the landowner did not grant the permission
in writing, there is a presumption that the permission did not exist.
SECTION 11. EDUCATION AND MARKETING. The game and fish department and the
tourism division of the department of commerce shall provide public education and marketing
regarding the changes to land access in this Act.
Division B was voted down. What was in it was a committee formed to bring real sportsmen to the table to visit about green yellow red apps and other talks to resolve this impasse. Two years from now the committee would give its recommendations to the legislature. The hammer was...… if sportsmen don't come to the table, then the law becomes all land is considered posted.
For my part every lawmaker gets an F. Talking about if we don't get this then we'll post everything up tight. That's bad. Talking about how USFWS easements are bad and then attacking sportsmen for going to DC lobbying against farmers. Wrong, real sportsmen don't do fly ins to DC, that is certain non-profits. Watch each proponent Representative complain that there is no working with these certain individuals who claim to represent sportsmen. The whole shit got turned into a rural verses city debacle.
There were no real sportsmen there yesterday. Carmen Miller from Ducks Unlimited, Keith Trego from ND Dakota Natural Resources Trust and John Bradley from the ND wildlife federation.
What would I like to see? Throw everything and change Section 7 too read:
SECTION 7. AMENDMENT.
Entering unposted private land with a hunting license and a gun or firearm
prima facie evidence of intent to hunt game is not trespass. Proof that a person having an individual had a firearm, or other weapon declared legal by governor's proclamation, in the person's possession and a valid license to hunt game in the
relevant area when the individual or a group including the individual entered upon the unposted private premises of another without permission of the owner or tenant is prima facie evidence the person individual or the group including the individual entered to hunt or pursue game is not trespass.
Probably not possible.
The committee was a fucking joke. Those from the ag sector on the committee had absolutely no reason to negotiate because without an agreement one side would get exactly what they wanted.
