Increases penalty for certain acts of trespass and vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands.

A209

ASSEMBLY, No. 209

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� Increases penalty for certain acts of trespass and
vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning trespass and vandalism on agricultural or
horticultural lands and amending R.S.4:17-2.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� 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 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, any person who
knowingly or recklessly operates a motorized vehicle or rides horseback upon
the lands of another without obtaining and in possession of the written
permission of the owner, occupant, lessee, or licensee thereof, or damages or
injures any tangible property, including, but not limited to, any fence,
building, feedstocks, crops, live trees, or any domestic animals, located on
the lands of another 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 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 order the
defendant to pay as appropriate.�
Notwithstanding the provisions of
paragraph (1) of this subsection to the contrary, if the court makes a finding
that the damages sustained exceed $10,000, the court shall order the defendant
to pay a civil penalty of not less than $2,500.

���� 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 owners of agricultural or horticultural lands from the obligation
to provide conspicuous posting prohibiting trespass on the waters or banks
along or around any waters listed for stocking with fish in the current fish
code adopted pursuant to section 32 of P.L.1948, c. 448 (C.13:1B-30) before a
trespass violation may be found.

���� 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.

(cf: P.L.2018, c.121, s.3)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would amend current
law concerning penalties for trespass and vandalism on agricultural and
horticultural lands.� Specifically, this bill would increase the penalty for trespass
and vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands when the damage incurred
by the landowner exceeds $10,000.

���� Under current law, it is a
criminal offense to knowingly or recklessly damage or injure any tangible
property, including, but not limited to, any fence, building, feedstocks,
crops, live trees, or any domestic animals located on agricultural or horticultural
lands.� In addition, current law provides a civil penalty of at least $1,000
for a person who engages in such an offense.�

���� Under this bill, the minimum
civil penalty would be increased from $1,000 to $2,500 if the court determines
that the damages sustained from trespass upon the agricultural or horticultural
land exceed $10,000.� This increased civil penalty would be 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.� This bill is in
response to Resolution No. 26 approved at the 105th State Agricultural
Convention, held in February 2020.