Committee hears testimony on bill to require no-trespassing signs every 250 feet

Representative Ben Slaw introduced House Bill 4013 and told the committee his bill would require no-trespassing signs to be posted at intervals of no more than 250 feet along a property's boundary.

The bill was discussed at a committee hearing where the Department of Natural Resources' legislative liaison and the department's chief law enforcement officer testified in support, and a representative of the Michigan Realtors registered support by card. No committee vote was taken at the hearing.

Rep. Ben Slaw, the bill's sponsor, said the change responds to a constituent complaint from fall 2022 about unauthorized hunters on private land and conflicting interpretations of the current law. "Although he had a significant number of no trespassing signs posted along the boundary of the property, when he called law enforcement, they would not prosecute because they claimed he didn't have enough signage," Slaw said. Under current law, Slaw said, a property owner must either build a fence or post signs at every "point of entry," a term the Department of Natural Resources has interpreted broadly. "So literally, you could have to post signs everywhere," he said.

Chris Semerneck, legislative liaison for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told…