Texas No Trespassing Law Requires Purple Markings
Many states have adopted a No Trespassing law that require property owners to mark their lot lines with the color purple. Stake-SAFE has developed a purple stake cover to address this problem. Below you will find the Texas statute. Other states that have adopted a similar no trespassing law including Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and North Carolina.
Texas No Trespassing Law
Sec. 30.05. CRIMINAL TRESPASS. (a) A person commits an offense if he enters or remains on property or in a building of another without effective consent and he:
(1) had notice that the entry was forbidden; or
(2) received notice to depart but failed to do so.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Entry” means the intrusion of the entire body.
(2) “Notice” means:
(A) oral or written communication by the owner or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner;
(B) fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock;
(C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden;
(D) [inserted 9/1/97] the placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts on the property, provided that the marks are:
(i) vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not less than one inch in width;
(ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three feet from the ground or more than five feet from the ground; and
(iii) placed at locations that are readily visible to any person approaching the property and no more than:
(a) 100 feet apart on forest land; or
(b) 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land; or
(E) the visible presence on the property of a crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time of entry.
(3) “Shelter center” has the meaning assigned by Section 51.002(1), Human Resources Code.
(4) [added 9/1/97] “Forest land” means land on which the trees are potentially valuable for timber products.
(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor at the time of the offense was a fire fighter or emergency medical services personnel, as that term is defined by Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code, acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty under exigent circumstances.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor unless it is committed in a habitation or a shelter center or unless the actor carries a deadly weapon on or about his person during the commission of the offense, in which event it is a Class A misdemeanor.
(e) [added 9/1/97] A person does not have or receive notice under Subsection (b)(2)(D) unless a sign is placed at each entrance for vehicles to the property that gives notice that the presence of purple paint marks on trees or posts on the property indicates that entry is forbidden. The sign required under this subsection must be not less than two feet by three feet in size with block letters at least two inches in height. This subsection expires September 1, 1998.
1997 Act adding (e) provided in Sec. 3(b): In the prosecution of an offense in which it is alleged that the defendant had or received notice as described by Section 30.05(e), Penal Code, as added by this Act, Section 30.05(e) is continued in effect after September 1, 1998, but only if every element of the alleged offense occurred before September 1, 1998.
