BILL REQ. #:  S-1743.3 

READ FIRST TIME 02/26/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to criminal trespass; amending RCW 9A.52.010, 9A.52.070, and 9A.52.080; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature declares that the people of this state have a right to a reasonable expectation of privacy on their private property. The legislature finds, however, that over time statutory authority for entry onto private property has expanded to the point where the people no longer feel secure from the unreasonable intrusion of government officials and others who have been granted special immunity from prosecution for trespass. The legislature further finds that this unnecessary erosion of the right of privacy creates dangerous tension between the people of the state and their government and jeopardizes the orderly resolution of issues.
     (2) The legislature intends, with certain limited and necessary exceptions, that all persons, whether government employees or private persons, be made subject to the same restrictions with regard to entering upon the property of another. It is the intent of the legislature to eliminate special immunities from prosecution for trespass, whether those immunities have been legislatively granted to government or to private persons or entities. It is not the intent of the legislature to change the elements of the crime of trespass, but only to make all persons subject to the same law with exceptions from uniform application of that law only for the kinds of entries onto property by law enforcement officers that are lawful as of the effective date of this act and those entries onto property by government personnel that are specified in this act.

Sec. 2   RCW 9A.52.010 and 1985 c 289 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The following definitions apply in this chapter:
     (1) "Premises" includes any building, dwelling, structure used for commercial aquaculture, or any real property;
     (2) "Enter". The word "enter" when constituting an element or part of a crime, shall include the entrance of the person, or the insertion of any part of his or her body, or any instrument or weapon held in his or her hand and used or intended to be used to threaten or intimidate a person or to detach or remove property;
     (3) "Enters or remains unlawfully". A person "enters or remains unlawfully" in or upon premises when he or she is not then licensed, invited, or otherwise privileged to so enter or remain.
     A license or privilege to enter or remain in a building which is only partly open to the public is not a license or privilege to enter or remain in that part of a building which is not open to the public. A person who enters or remains upon unimproved and apparently unused land, which is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders, does so with license and privilege unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to him or her by the owner of the land or some other authorized person, or unless notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner. Land that is used for commercial aquaculture or for growing an agricultural crop or crops, other than timber, is not unimproved and apparently unused land if a crop or any other sign of cultivation is clearly visible or if notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner. Similarly, a field fenced in any manner is not unimproved and apparently unused land;
     (4) "Data" means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts, or instructions that are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalized manner and are intended for use in a computer;
     (5) "Computer program" means an ordered set of data representing coded instructions or statements that when executed by a computer cause the computer to process data;
     (6) "Access" means to approach, instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from, or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, directly or by electronic means;
     (7) "Law enforcement officer" means a "general authority Washington peace officer," or "specially commissioned Washington peace officer," or "federal peace officer" as defined in RCW 10.93.020;
     (8) "State public official or employee of the state" means any elected or appointed official or employee of a state agency or department.

Sec. 3   RCW 9A.52.070 and 1979 ex.s. c 244 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the first degree if he or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, a state public official or employee of the state "enters or remains unlawfully" under the same circumstances as any other person, except that it is not unlawful for such an official or employee to enter or remain in a building:
     (a) When necessary to do so in response to a fire or a medical emergency;
     (b) When acting under authority of a warrant or other court order that was obtained after a reasonable attempt to notify the owner and after a reasonable attempt to obtain the consent of such owner or the resident agent of any nonresident owner to allow the official or the employee to enter or remain in the building;
     (c) When the official or employee is a law enforcement officer entering or remaining in a building in a manner and under circumstances that are lawful pursuant to statutory authority elsewhere in this code or applicable case law; or
     (d) When the official or employee is acting under the express statutory authority granted to such official or employee elsewhere in this code to enter and remain in a building. Even if such express statutory authority exists, prior to carrying out the statutory purpose for which entry is made, the official or employee making such entry or someone on his or her behalf shall make a reasonable attempt to notify the owner of the building as to the purpose and need for the entry. Civil liability for negligence shall lie in any case in which entry and any of the activities connected therewith are not undertaken with reasonable care.
     (3) Criminal trespass in the first degree is a gross misdemeanor.

Sec. 4   RCW 9A.52.080 and 1979 ex.s. c 244 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, a state public official or employee of the state "enters or remains unlawfully" under the same circumstances as any other person, except that it is not unlawful for such an official or employee to enter or remain in or upon premises of another:
     (a) When necessary to do so in response to a fire or a medical emergency;
     (b) When acting under authority of a warrant or other court order that was obtained after a reasonable attempt to notify the owner and after a reasonable attempt to obtain the consent of such owner or the resident agent of any nonresident owner to allow the official or the employee to enter or remain in or upon premises of another;
     (c) When the official or employee is a law enforcement officer entering or remaining in or upon premises of another in a manner and under circumstances that are lawful pursuant to statutory authority elsewhere in this code or applicable case law; or
     (d) When the official or employee is acting under the express statutory authority granted to such official or employee elsewhere in this code to enter and remain in or upon premises of another. Even if such express statutory authority exists, prior to carrying out the statutory purpose for which entry is made, the official or employee making such entry or someone on his or her behalf shall make a reasonable attempt to notify the owner of the property as to the purpose and need for the entry. Civil liability for negligence shall lie in any case in which entry and any of the activities connected therewith are not undertaken with reasonable care.
     (3) Criminal trespass in the second degree is a misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.