2001 SESSION

01-2276

06/09

HOUSE BILL 1385

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill requires railroads to post "no trespassing" signs on certain rail lines and provides penalties for trespassing on those lines.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

01-2276

06/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Trespassing on Rail Lines Where the Authorized Speed is 45 Miles per Hour or More. Amend RSA 381:14 to read as follows:

381:14 Criminal Trespass on Railroad Property.

I. Any person who enters or remains in a railroad station, upon the platform or grounds adjacent to a station, or upon any property of a railroad knowingly without license or privilege to do so, or a person who enters or remains upon or returns to said property in defiance of an order of a station agent or any police officer shall be guilty of criminal trespass as provided in RSA 635:2.

II. Along any active rail line where the authorized speed is 45 miles per hour or greater, the railroad shall provide and post signs of durable material, prohibiting trespassing, printed with block letters no less than 2 inches in height. Such signs shall include the name of the railroad and shall be posted not more than 300 yards apart.

III. If any person without right enters upon or remains in any rail line posted in accordance with the requirements of paragraph II, the fine shall be as follows:

(a) $100 for the first offense.

(b) $500 for the second offense.

(c) $1000 for the third and subsequent offenses.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2003.