DISTRICT COURT UPDATE
Summons Article, May, 2008
written by
Hon. Christopher S. Boyd

The Michigan Legislature recently amended the Trespassing statute, MCL 750.552, to eliminate the requirement that the offender enter another person’s property “willfully”, and that the owner be required to request the offender to leave the premises. The amendment went into effect on March 20, 2008. Even without the element of willfulness, a person would be guilty of trespass only if the owner or occupant had forbidden entry previously, or remained on the property after having been told to leave.

Public Act 167 of  2007 also prohibits a person from entering farm property which is “posted” without the consent of the owner, unless the person is in the process of attempting, by the most direct route, to contact the owner to request consent. A person may not remain without legal authority on another’s fenced or posted farm property. The prohibition eliminates the requirement that a “request to leave” those premises is necessary as an element of the offense.

A person who violates the trespassing statute may now be punished with imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days or by a fine of not more than $250.00, or both. However, when hunting and one encounters a posted property with the warning: “No trespassing- violators will be shot, survivors will be shot again”, one may want to consider the practicalities rather than the legalities of the situation.

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