What is trespassing?

I will forever be grateful for the time I grew up in. Surely there could not have ever been a more "reasonable" era in American history....at least not for us youngsters growing up in a rural lifestyle. What I try to do whenever I get stuck behind some bicyclist riding down the middle of my lane, or run across some "deer in the headlights" lookin stranger standing in the middle of the road out in the pasture, or have to escort some wild-eyed neurotic city dude to the front gate is remember that these people are only trying to find the same thing today that I found all those years ago behind a pieced together headlight and .22 pump rifle.....and thats a little freedom! You can't blame 'em for trying..... it IS a most precious commodity!

Had to respond. A situation my daddy-in-law told me about. A man and his son were crossing a pasture in their pickup looking for deer in the blackjacks (northwest OK). They were illegally hunting on land posted no trespassing & no hunting. Posts were painted no-hunting purple about every 100 ft. While crossing the pasture, the illegal hunters hit and killed a bull. Illegal hunters sued the landowner and won personal injury and propety damage to their pickup. Landowner got bumpkus. Crazy world sometimes.

Safety & blue skies,

DJ

jim

10-4 on the memories!! I, too was raised in the country, still there, but it ain't the same as it was back then! Lawyers are mainly responsible for the current state of affairs! Farmers are scared that folks will sue them, so for insurance reasons, they prohibit folks from tresspassing! And back then everybody knew everybody else, so if crimes were committed, it was obvious who did it! I'm also glad that I was priviledged to be raised in the country, and would hate to be a kid these days! ATVS and JetSkis were unheard of back then! As I live on the water, I feel like JetSkis are a bigger nuisance than ATVs...nothing like an Aquatic Chainsaw outside the window when you are nursing a hangover! Most of the local folks that have ATV's seem to use them for hunting. Oh, well if I ran this country....etc. ;-) CC

Dan

Basically, if you have land posted (sign) or encircled in a fence, you have the right to restrict intrusion under penalty of law. If you have crops growing, (doesn't need either of the former) you can deal with anyone within 100 ft of your field.

Have real problems in the valley especially (mostly citrus crops in far south Texas) with people stopping on the side of the road and going over to a tree and hauling a bushel or so of fruit off.

Mark

This is for Ohio, and I am tring to remember from an article I read a couple of months ago.... i.e. consult your own legal council...

Tresspassing is any uninvited person on your property. Implied consent is given to go prom the public right of way to your front door. i.e. the Jehova Wittnesses are not tresspassing, at least not until you tell then to leave.

There are two levels of tresspassing, incidental and criminal.

Incidental is someone walking the back 40 without permission. Criminal is they know they are tresspassing and mean to do harm... i.e rob, vandalize etc. Thus all the ATV tresspass is the incidental type.

The land owner is libal for injury to the tresspassing party only under certain conditions...

If there is a known hazzard: The landowner must make it safe... i.e. Open Mine shaft or Well, swimming pools etc.

Hazzardous natural dangers need to be posted... ie. clift faces. (little fuzzy here on what I remember.)

Landowner is always libal for booby traps and can face criminal charges for making them... i.e. guns rigger to fire if a door is opened, lion pits, snares, deadfalls etc.

The age of the tresspasser also comes into play, the landowner has a higher resposibility to protect a child tresspasser from danger than an adult. i.e. putting locking covers on grain elevator puwer buttons, and taking the keys out of equipment so the little (i.e. under 18) tykes don't go joy riding on the N and roll the thing and kill themselves.

I don't make them up, Just report it as I see it.

Best cure for tresspassers is good relationships with the neighbors is possible.

Jeff.

I have had people from large cities tell me that no one lives on my property because there isn't a house on it. No, there isn't a house every 200 feet. But there is a house on my property, you just can't see it from most of the fields and woods.