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House tightens trespass penalties for privately owned rangeland, adds civil penalty
Summary
House passes HB153 to create criminal trespass on agricultural/rangeland with a $500 civil penalty and clarifying amendments on fencing and posting; sponsors said the measure protects private landowners while ensuring inadvertent recreational users are not trapped.
First Substitute House Bill 153, aimed at strengthening trespass law for agricultural and rangeland, passed the Utah House on Feb. 24. Sponsor Representative Abigail Mathis told the House the bill targets repeat or damaging incursions on privately owned ranchland and adds a $500 statutory civil penalty and reasonable court costs to give enforcement more teeth.
Representative Carrie Gibson moved an amendment (Amendment No.2) to harmonize the bill's language with existing criminal‑trespass code provisions. Sponsors and questioners discussed how the bill defines "rangeland," the role of fencing and posting, and protections to avoid criminalizing innocent recreation. The sponsor said the intent is to protect private property without trapping recreational users and pointed to specific line numbers defining privately owned rangeland and reasonable posting.
Floor discussion addressed whether there were already statutes covering hunting and other specific circumstances; sponsors said the change focuses on privately owned rangeland and includes clarifying language so that fences or reasonable postings—not ordinary drift fences—would indicate prohibited access. After debate, the House passed the amended bill 62‑11 and transmitted it to the Senate.
