2012 -- H 7560

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LC01382

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012

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A N A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- TRESPASS AND VANDALISM

     Introduced By: Representatives Keable, Naughton, Jacquard, Jackson, and Winfield

     Date Introduced: February 15, 2012

     Referred To: House Judiciary

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Sections 11-44-1, 11-44-2, 11-44-4, 11-44-5, 11-44-11, 11-44-12, 11-44-

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12.1, 11-44-13, 11-44-14, 11-44-15, 11-44-16, 11-44-17, 11-44-19, 11-44-21, 11-44-21.1, 11-44-

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22, 11-44-23, 11-44-25 and 11-44-26.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-44 entitled "Trespass

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and Vandalism" are hereby amended to read as follows:

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     11-44-1. Vandalism -- Obstruction of lawful pursuits. -- (a) Every person who shall

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willfully and maliciously or mischievously injure or destroy or write upon, paint, or otherwise

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deface the property of another, or obstruct the use of the property of another, or obstruct another

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in the prosecution of his or her lawful business or pursuits, in any manner, the punishment of

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which is not specifically provided for by statute, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be

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fined not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) and/or be imprisoned not exceeding one year,

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and shall be liable to make restitution for the injury or damage caused. Every person convicted of

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a first offense under this section shall be required to perform up to one hundred (100) hours of

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public community restitution work, and for a second or subsequent conviction shall be required to

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perform up to two hundred (200) hours of public community restitution work. Provided, further

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that every person who shall willfully and maliciously or mischievously injure or destroy or write

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upon, paint or otherwise deface government property, or obstruct the use of that property, shall be

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punished in accordance with this statute. Jurisdiction for matters involving government property

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shall be concurrent with the district court or the respective city or town police or municipal court.

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      (b) Where the provisions of The Domestic Violence Prevention Act, chapter 29 of title

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12, are applicable, the penalties for violation of this section shall also include the penalties as

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provided in section 12-29-5.

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     11-44-2. Injury or removal of vegetation -- Buildings and fences. -- Every person who

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shall take and carry away, without the consent of the owner, any corn, grain, fruit, or growing

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vegetable out of any field, garden, or orchard, or who shall willfully and without the consent of

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the owner root up, cut down, or otherwise injure or destroy or take and carry away any tree or

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underwood growing or standing upon the land of another, or remove any cord wood, or shall

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maliciously root up, cut down, or otherwise injure or destroy any tree, root, fruit, or vegetable

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growing in any garden, field, orchard, highway, common, or public square, or who shall take and

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carry away, without the consent of the owner, any cultivated plant, tree, or shrub from any

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graveyard or from any public or private grounds, or who shall wantonly or maliciously injure or

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destroy any plant or shrub growing upon the land or in the building of another, or who shall

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poison the earth about any plant or shrub so as to prevent or injure its growth, or who shall

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maliciously or wantonly in any way injure or deface any building not his or her own, or break the

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glass or any part of it in any building, or shall maliciously injure any fence or stone wall on or

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enclosing lands not his or her own, shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year or be fined not

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exceeding triple the value of the damage or one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is lower;

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and shall be required to pay the party injured a penalty not to exceed triple the value of the

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damage caused by the person; provided, that if any person shall knowingly use or permit to be

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used any vehicle for the commission of any of the offenses enumerated in this section, he or she

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shall also be penalized in the manner specified in title 31.

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     11-44-4. Shooting, trapping or fishing on posted lands -- Destruction of signs. --

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Whoever shall enter upon the land of another without the owner's permission for the purpose of

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either shooting, trapping, or fishing when that land shall be conspicuously posted with clear and

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legible signs stating that shooting, trapping or fishing, as the case may be, is prohibited, or

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whoever shall remain upon the premises of another for the purpose of shooting, trapping, or

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fishing after having been forbidden to do so by the owner of the premises or the owner's

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authorized agent, or whoever shall without right mutilate, destroy, or remove any sign stating that

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shooting, trapping or fishing, as the case may be, is prohibited, shall be fined not exceeding

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twenty dollars ($20.00) three hundred dollars ($300) for the first offense and five hundred dollars

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($500) for any subsequent offense.

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     11-44-5. Willful damage while hunting, trapping or fishing. -- Whoever shall enter

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upon land of another for the purpose of hunting, trapping or fishing, and while upon the land shall

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do any willful damage to the property of the owner of the land, shall be fined not exceeding

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twenty dollars ($20.00) five hundred dollars ($500). The owner of the property may recover from

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any person convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section, in an action of the case, twice

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the amount of the damages so sustained; and the license to pursue, hunt, and kill game in the state

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of Rhode Island during the open season issued under the provisions of chapter 13 of title 20 to

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any persons who shall thereafter be convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section shall

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be forfeited and no license shall be issued to him or her under the provisions of title 20 for a

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period of one year after that conviction.

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     11-44-11. Injury to boundary or line markers. -- Every person who shall willfully

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break down, remove, injure, obscure, or destroy any monument erected for the purpose of

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designating the boundaries of any town or city or any tract or lot of land, or any tree marked for

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that purpose, or any stake set up to mark the line or grade of any railroad, or any marker erected

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for the purpose of designating a public right-of-way to water areas of the state, shall be

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imprisoned not exceeding one year or be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) one

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thousand dollars ($1,000).

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     11-44-12. Injury to public property. -- Every person who shall willfully cut or deface or

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otherwise injure any public building or fence or other property shall be fined not less than one

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hundred dollars ($100) five hundred dollars ($500) unless the amount of damage exceeds one

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hundred dollars ($100) five hundred dollars ($500). If that amount shall exceed one hundred

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dollars ($100) five hundred dollars ($500), then he or she shall be punished by a fine which is not

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less than three (3) times the amount of the damage nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) one

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thousand five hundred ($1,500), or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, and, in

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addition to any sentence, shall be ordered to make restitution in the full amount of damage done.

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     11-44-12.1. Damage to instrumentality of public transportation. -- Every person who

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shall willfully cut or deface or otherwise injure any instrumentality of public transportation

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managed by or belonging to a public corporation shall be punished by a fine of not less than one

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hundred dollars ($100) one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500)

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five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty (30) days, or both.

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     11-44-13. Injury to public statues and monuments. -- Every person who shall willfully

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trespass upon, deface, mutilate, cover or keep covered, or otherwise injure the Soldiers' and

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Sailors' Monument in the city of Providence, or any other public statue or monument, may be

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punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) three thousand dollars ($3,000)

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and/or by imprisonment not exceeding one year or both fine and imprisonment,. and shall, in

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addition to imprisonment and/or fine, be ordered to make full restitution to the public or

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governmental entity incurring the expense of repairing the statue or monument.

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     11-44-14. Breaking lamps or windows. -- Every person who shall willfully break any

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lamp, lantern, or window shall, for every lamp, lantern, or window broken, be fined not

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exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) five hundred dollars ($500), and shall be liable to make

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restitution for the injury and/or damage.

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     11-44-15. Injuring or destroying books and other property of libraries, archives, or

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other records repositories. -- (a) Any person who willfully, maliciously, or wantonly writes

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upon, injures, defaces, tears, cuts, mutilates, or destroys any book, record, or other property

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belonging to or in the custody of any public county or regional library, the state library, the state

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archives, the state records center or other repository of public records, museum, or any library or

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collection belonging to or in the custody of any educational, eleemosynary, benevolent,

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hereditary, or historical library, or patriotic institution, organization, or society, or state or local

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agency, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be ordered to make restitution in the full retail

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value of the books, records or other property, and may be fined not more than one hundred dollars

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($100) one thousand dollars ($1,000), to be for use of the library, archives, or records repository.

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      (b) "Book, records, or other property" as used in this section includes any book, plate,

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picture, photograph, engraving, painting, drawing, map, newspaper, magazine, pamphlet,

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broadside, manuscript, document, letter, public record, equipment, microform, sound recording,

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audiovisual materials in any format, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data processing records,

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artifacts, or other documentary, written, or printed material, regardless of physical form or

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characteristics, belonging to, on loan to, or otherwise in the custody of, any library, museum,

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archives, or repository of public or other records institution.

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     11-44-16. Removal of gravel from or deposit of debris on Easton's Beach Removal

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of gravel from or deposit of debris on state and/or municipal beaches. -- Every person who

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shall remove any sand or any gravel from any part of Easton's Beach, as defined in section 11-44-

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18 a state and/or municipal beach, shall be fined twenty dollars ($20.00) five hundred dollars

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($500) for every offense. Every person who shall deposit or leave on the beach any dead animal,

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offal, filth, rubbish, or refuse matter, shall be fined twenty dollars ($20.00) not more than five

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hundred dollars ($500) for every offense.

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     11-44-17. Enforcement of section 11-44-16 Enforcement of section 11-44-16 and 11-

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44-19. -- Any police constable of Newport or of Middletown, viewing any offense committed in

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violation of section sections 11-44-16 and 11-44-19, shall immediately arrest the offender,

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whether in Newport or in Middletown, and cause him or her to be prosecuted for the offense as

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soon as may be possible before the district court.

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     11-44-19. Deposit of debris on Middletown beaches Deposit of debris on beaches. --

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Every person who shall deposit or leave on any state and/or municipal beach in the town of

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Middletown, any dead animal, offal, filth, rubbish, waste, or refuse matter, shall be fined twenty

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dollars ($20.00) not more than five hundred dollars ($500) for every offense.

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     11-44-21. Vandalizing alarms or call boxes -- False alarms. -- Whoever opens a signal

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box connected with a police, fire, or motorist aid call system for the purpose of giving or causing

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to be given a false alarm, or interferes in any way with a signal box by breaking, cutting, injuring,

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or defacing it; or, without authority, opens, tampers, or meddles with a signal box, or with any

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part or parts of it, or with the police signal wires, or with anything connected with it, or, with that

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purpose, willfully or knowingly tampers or meddles with a signal box connected with a fire signal

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system or with any part or thing connected with it, or, with that purpose, willfully or knowingly

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tampers or meddles with a motorist aid call box, or by any means gives or aids or abets in the

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giving of a false alarm of fire or emergency or falsely summons an ambulance or rescue

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apparatus, shall be subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to one year, or fined not more

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than five hundred dollars ($500) one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both. Upon conviction for any

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offense referred to in this section, the court shall, in addition to imposing a fine and/or

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imprisonment, order the offender to make restitution to the appropriate state, city, or town

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authority or agency for any expenditures necessitated by the commission of the offense.

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     11-44-21.1. Graffiti -- Defacing private residences, offices, businesses or commercial

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property. -- Every person who shall willfully, maliciously or mischievously write upon, paint, or

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otherwise deface the private property or residence of another, any office building, business or

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commercial property or public building, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. For the first offense,

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said penalty shall not exceed a five hundred dollar ($500) fine and community service not

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exceeding one hundred (100) hours. Every person convicted of a second offense under this

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section shall be fined up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) and shall be required to perform up to

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two hundred (200) hours of community service, and shall be liable to make restitution for the

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injury and/or damage.

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     11-44-22. Throwing articles at moving vehicles. -- Every person who shall willfully

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throw, shoot, or in any other manner propel a snowball or any other object at any moving motor

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or other vehicle in use upon the roads or highways of this state shall, upon conviction, be

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punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment not exceeding

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one year, or both, and shall be liable to make restitution for the injury and/or damage.

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     11-44-23. Throwing objects at police officer, firefighter or police or fire vehicles. --

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Every person who shall willfully throw, shoot, or in any other manner propel a rock or any other

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object at any police officer, firefighter, or any police or fire vehicle, whether moving or not, shall,

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upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) one thousand

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dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, and shall be liable to make

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restitution for the injury and/or damage.

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     11-44-25. Deposit of debris on public rights-of-way to water. -- Every person who

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shall deposit or leave on any public right-of-way to water areas of the state, any dead animal,

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offal, filth, rubbish, waste, or refuse matter, shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars

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($100) five hundred dollars ($500) for every offense.

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     11-44-26.1. Mandatory minimum fine for willful trespass within school buildings. --

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Every person who willfully trespasses or, having no legitimate purpose for his or her presence, or

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having been suspended from attendance at any school, remains within a building used for a public

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or private school, college, university, junior college, or other public or private educational

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institution, or on the school grounds or campus grounds of any public or private school, college,

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university, junior college, or other public or private educational institution after having been

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forbidden so to do by a local or state police officer or a guard, security officer, or an official of

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the school, college, university, junior college or other educational institution, shall for the first

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offense be punished at least by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) one hundred dollars

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($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), and shall for the second offense be punished by

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a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) two hundred dollars ($200) nor more than five

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hundred dollars ($500), and for the third or any subsequent offense by a fine of not less than one

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hundred fifty dollars ($150) three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars

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($500) one thousand dollars ($1,000), and may in addition, be imprisoned not exceeding six (6)

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months.

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     SECTION 2. Sections 11-44-6, 11-44-8, 11-44-9 and 11-44-10 of the General Laws in

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Chapter 11-44 entitled "Trespass and Vandalism" are hereby repealed.

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     11-44-6. Defacement of bank bills and notes. -- Every person who shall willfully and

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mischievously tear, cut, burn, or in any other manner damage and impair the integrity, strength, or

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usefulness for circulation of any bank bill or note issued by any corporation which is established

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as a bank in this state, or shall willfully and mischievously write, print, blot, or stamp any

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impression on a bill or note, or shall aid and abet in any of the offenses provided in this section,

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shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year nor less than one month.

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     11-44-8. Injury to or interference with water-control structures. -- Every person who

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shall willfully and maliciously break down, injure, remove, or destroy any dam, reservoir, canal,

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or trench, or any gate, flume, flash-board, or other appurtenance, or any of the wheels, mill-gear,

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or machinery of a water-mill, or willfully or wantonly, without color of right, draw off the water

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contained in a millpond, reservoir, canal, or trench, or willfully and maliciously, without color of

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right, obstruct the water of a mill-pond, reservoir, canal, or trench from flowing out of it, shall be

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imprisoned not exceeding five (5) years or be fined not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000).

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     11-44-9. Firing of weapon near baiting place. -- Every person who, between the first

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day of April and the first day of November in any year, shall maliciously fire any gun, musket,

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blunderbuss, or pistol, within eighty (80) rods of any baiting place, not his or her own property,

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and actually used in the proper season for the baiting and netting of wild pigeons, shall be fined

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not exceeding twenty dollars ($20.00), nor less than five dollars ($5.00).

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     11-44-10. Injurious substances on baiting places. -- Every person who shall strew or

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place any powder or brimstone or other sulfurous substance upon any baiting place not his or her

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own property, or shall burn upon that place any of those substances saturated with tar or

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turpentine, shall be fined not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than twenty dollars ($20.00).

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     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC01382

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- TRESPASS AND VANDALISM

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     This act would amend the fines for certain criminal offenses relative to trespassing and

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vandalism and would delete various sections containing archaic references.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC01382

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