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S4525
SENATE, No. 4525
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 26, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� VINCENT J. POLISTINA
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Upgrades trespass in or upon casino gaming property
to fourth degree crime.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning criminal trespass and amending
N.J.S.2C:18-1
and
N.J.S.2C:18-3.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1. N.J.S.2C:18-1 is amended to
read as follows:
2C:18-1.� In this chapter, unless a
different meaning
[
plainly
is
]
is
plainly
required:
����
"Casino gaming
property" means a licensed casino and hotel complex approved by the Casino
Control Commission and regulated by the Division of Gaming Enforcement for
casino operations.
����
[
"Structure" means any
building, room, ship, vessel, car, vehicle, or airplane and also means any
place for carrying on business therein, whether or not a person is actually
present.
���� "Utility Company
Property" means property owned by a public utility, as defined in
R.S.48:2-13, or by a municipality, county, water district, authority, or other
public agency and which is used for the purpose of providing electric, gas or
water utility service.
]
���� "Operational area"
means
[
any
]
a
portion
of a public airport, from which access by the public is prohibited by fences or
appropriate signs, and includes runways, taxiways, all ramps, cargo ramps and
apron areas, aircraft parking and storage areas, fuel storage areas,
maintenance areas, and any other area of a public airport used or intended to
be used for landing, takeoff or surface maneuvering of aircraft.
����
"Residential dwelling
or accommodation" means a permanent structure intended as and currently
being utilized as a residence by a private person or persons and any place
adapted for overnight accommodation of persons.
���� "Sterile area" means
a portion of an airport, as set forth in an airport security program approved
by the Transportation Security Administration, that provides passengers access
to boarding aircraft and to which the access generally is controlled by the
Transportation Security Administration, an aircraft operator pursuant to 49
C.F.R. part 1544, or an air carrier pursuant to 49 C.F.R. part 1546, through
the screening of persons and property.
����
"Structure" means
a building, room, ship, vessel, car, vehicle, or airplane and also means a
place for carrying on business therein, whether or not a person is actually
present.
����
[
"Residential dwelling or
accommodation" means a permanent structure intended as and currently being
utilized as a residence by a private person or persons and any place adapted
for overnight accommodation of persons.
]
����
"Utility company property"
means property owned by a public utility, as defined in R.S.48:2-13, or by a
municipality, county, water district, authority, or other public agency and
which is used for the purpose of providing electric, gas, or water utility
service.
���� 2. N.J.S.2C:18-3 is amended to
read as follows:
���� 2C:18-3. a. Unlicensed entry
of structures.� A person commits
[
an
]
a
disorderly persons
offense if, knowing that
[
he
]
the person
is not
licensed or privileged to do so,
[
he
]
the person
enters or surreptitiously remains in
[
any
research facility,
]
a
structure, or separately secured or occupied portion thereof
[
, or in or
upon utility company property, or in the sterile area or operational area of an
airport
]
.
���� An offense under this
subsection is a crime of the fourth degree if it is committed in
[
a school or on
school property.� The offense is a crime of the fourth degree if it is
committed in a dwelling.� An offense under this section is a crime of the
fourth degree if it is committed in a research facility, power generation
facility, waste treatment facility, public sewage facility, water treatment
facility, public water facility, nuclear electric generating plant or any
facility which stores, generates or handles any hazardous chemical or chemical
compounds.� An offense under this subsection is a crime of the fourth degree if
it is committed in or upon utility company property.� An offense under this
subsection is a crime of the fourth degree if it is committed in the sterile
area or operational area of an airport. �Otherwise it is a disorderly persons
offense.
]
or upon:
����
(1) a school or school
property;
����
(2) a residential dwelling
or accommodation;
����
(3) a research facility;
����
(4) a power generation
facility;
����
(5) a waste treatment
facility;
����
(6) a public sewage
facility;
����
(7) a water treatment
facility;
����
(8) a public water
facility;
����
(9) a nuclear electric
generating plant;
����
(10) a facility which
stores, generates, or handles a hazardous chemical or a chemical compound;
����
(11) a utility company
property;
����
(12) a sterile area or
operational area of an airport; or
����
(13) a casino gaming
property.
���� b.��� Defiant
[
trespasser
]
trespass
.�
A person commits a petty disorderly persons offense if, knowing that
[
he
]
the person
is not licensed or privileged to do so,
[
he
]
the person
enters or remains in
[
any
]
a
place
as to which notice against trespass is given by:
���� (1)�
[
Actual
]
actual
communication to the actor;
[
or
]
���� (2)�
[
Posting
]
posting
in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the attention of
intruders; or
���� (3)�
[
Fencing
]
fencing
or other enclosure manifestly designed to exclude intruders.
���� c.��� Peering into windows or
other openings of
a residential
dwelling
[
places
]
or accommodation
. �A
person commits a crime of the fourth degree if, knowing that
[
he
]
the person
is not licensed or privileged to do so,
[
he
]
the person
peers into a window or other opening of a
residential
dwelling or
[
other
structure adapted for overnight accommodation
]
accommodation
for the purpose of invading the privacy of another person
and under circumstances in which a reasonable person in the
residential
dwelling
or
[
other
structure
]
accommodation
would not expect to be observed.
���� d.��� Defenses.� It is an
affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that:
���� (1)�
[
A
]
a
structure
involved in an offense under subsection a. was abandoned;
���� (2)�
[
The
]
the
structure
was at the time open to members of the public and the actor complied with all
lawful conditions imposed on access to or remaining in the structure; or
���� (3)�
[
The
]
the
actor
reasonably believed that the owner of the structure, or other person empowered
to license access thereto, would have licensed
[
he
]
the actor
to enter or
remain, or, in the case of subsection c. of this section, to peer.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.138, s.2)
���� 3. This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill provides that trespass
in or upon a casino gaming property is a crime of the fourth degree.
���� A crime of the fourth degree
is punishable by imprisonment for up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or
both.
���� Under current law, trespass in
or upon a casino gaming property is generally considered a �defiant trespass,�
a petty disorderly persons offense, under State law.� A petty disorderly
persons offense is punishable by imprisonment for up to 30 days, a fine of up
to $500, or both.
���� The bill defines a �casino
gaming property� as a licensed casino and hotel complex approved by the Casino
Control Commission and regulated by the Division of Gaming Enforcement for
casino operations.
���� In addition, the bill amends
statutes pertaining to criminal trespass to clarify locations subject to
enhanced penalties for criminal trespass, align definitions used in the statutes
with P.L.2024, c.83, and enhance readability.