130th Ohio General Assembly
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Sub. S. B. No. 16  As Passed by the Senate
As Passed by the Senate

130th General Assembly
Regular Session
2013-2014
Sub. S. B. No. 16


Senator Schiavoni 

Cosponsors: Senators Tavares, Kearney, Skindell, Smith, Brown, Gentile, Sawyer, Cafaro, Seitz, Beagle, Turner, Bacon, Burke, Gardner, Hughes, LaRose, Lehner, Manning, Obhof, Oelslager, Patton, Peterson 



A BILL
To amend section 2911.21 and to enact sections 2305.117 and 2305.118 of the Revised Code to provide that a person is not criminally or civilly liable for trespassing on certain abandoned land or similar places of public amusement if the person enters or remains on the land or place of public amusement to remediate it and knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the land or place of public amusement is in one of those categories; to establish a court process to allow a person to request and receive permission to enter certain abandoned land or similar places of public amusement in order to remediate that land; to provide that a person is not civilly liable for trespassing on that land if the person has received an order from the court granting such permission; to provide the property owner with immunity from liability to a person who enters or remains on the land or place of public amusement in those circumstances subject to the statute governing liability to trespassers; and to provide that a person who enters or remains on the land or place of public amusement in those circumstances is not entitled to any reimbursement for any cost of the remediation unless agreed to by the property owner.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 2911.21 be amended and sections 2305.117 and 2305.118 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 2305.117.  (A) As used in this section and section 2305.118 of the Revised Code:
(1) "Abandoned land" has the same meaning as in section 323.65 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Manufactured home" has the same meaning as in section 3781.06 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Mobile home," "park trailer," and "travel trailer" have the same meanings as in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Place of public amusement" has the same meaning as in section 2911.23 of the Revised Code.
(5) "Railroad" has the same meaning as in section 4907.02 of the Revised Code.
(6) "Remediate" has the same meaning as in section 2911.21 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) If a person wishes to enter abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land during the daylight hours from sunrise to sunset in order to remediate that abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land, that person may file a motion in the county court or municipal court that has jurisdiction over the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land requesting to enter the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to remediate that abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land.
(2) The motion shall be accompanied by a filing fee of not more than twenty dollars.
(C) On receiving the motion filed pursuant to division (B) of this section, the court shall set a date for a hearing on the motion within two weeks of the filing of the motion and send a notice of the hearing to the person who filed the motion and to the address of the owner of the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land that is on file in the office of the county auditor in the county where the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land is located, unless the person filing the motion is aware of a different address and notifies the court of that address.
(D) The person who filed the motion pursuant to division (B) of this section shall present evidence to the court at the hearing indicating the necessity to remediate the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land. The owner of the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land may also present evidence to rebut the person's assertion that the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land must be remediated.
(E) If the court finds that the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land is in need of remediation, then the court may issue an order permitting the person who filed the motion pursuant to division (B) of this section to enter the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land to remediate that land.
(F) This section does not apply to a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer located on abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land or to any land that is owned by a railroad.
Sec. 2305.118. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Cost or expense of remediation" means any cost or expense associated with any effort to remediate any abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land, including, but not limited to, any cost or expense of any material, equipment, product, or labor used in or otherwise associated with the effort.
(2) "Trespasser" means an individual who, without express or implied authorization, invitation, or inducement, enters abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land purely for the individual's own purposes or convenience.
(B) Subject to divisions (D) and (E) of this section, no owner of abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land has a civil action, or may receive an award of damages in a civil action, against another person for the other person knowingly entering or remaining upon that land or place of public amusement during the daylight hours from sunrise to sunset if the other person received an order from the court pursuant to section 2305.117 of the Revised Code permitting the person to enter the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to remediate that land or proves both of the following:
(1) The other person knowingly entered or remained on that land or place of public amusement in order to remediate that land or place of public amusement.
(2) Before entering upon that land or place of public amusement, the other person knew, or after duly investigating the matter had reasonable cause to believe, that the land was abandoned land or that the place of public amusement was a place of public amusement that was abandoned land.
(C) Notwithstanding division (B) of this section, any individual who enters upon any land or place of public amusement for the purposes described in division (B) of this section does not have a right to possession of that land or place of public amusement and any individual who remains on that land or place of public amusement is subject to Chapter 1923. of the Revised Code.
(D) Notwithstanding division (B) of this section, no individual who enters upon abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land for the purposes described in division (B) of this section shall remediate or make any cosmetic improvement to a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land, engage in any act or conduct that results in any additional damage to a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land, or engage in any act or conduct that would require the individual to enter the interior of a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer that is located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land.
(E) Division (B) of this section does not apply with respect to any land that is owned by a railroad.
(F)(1) Subject to division (F)(2) of this section, no person who is a trespasser and who enters or remains on any abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to remediate that land or place of public amusement has a civil action, or may receive an award of damages in a civil action, against the owner of that land or place of public amusement.
(2) Division (F)(1) of this section does not apply with respect to any injury, death, or loss to person or property of a trespasser that occurred while the trespasser entered or remained on any abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land to the extent that another section of the Revised Code or the common law of this state provides for or governs civil liability with respect to the injury, death, or loss.
(G)(1) Subject to division (G)(2) of this section, no person who enters or remains on any abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to remediate that land or place of public amusement has a civil action, or may receive an award of damages in a civil action, against the owner of that land or place of public amusement for reimbursement of any cost or expense of remediation.
(2) Division (G)(1) of this section does not apply to a cost or expense of remediation to the extent that the person who enters on or remains on the land or place of public amusement has entered into an agreement with the owner of the land or place of public amusement for reimbursement of that cost or expense of remediation.
(H) Nothing in this section or section 2305.117 of the Revised Code shall require a person who enters or remains on any abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to remediate that land or place of public amusement to remediate that land or place of public amusement on a continuing basis.
(I) Nothing in this section affects a municipality's ability to remove, repair, or secure insecure, unsafe, structurally defective, abandoned, deserted, or open and vacant buildings or other structures, to make emergency corrections of hazardous conditions, or to abate any nuisance pursuant to section 715.261 of the Revised Code or any municipal ordinance that allows a municipal corporation to remediate abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land.
Sec. 2911.21.  (A) No person, without privilege to do so, shall do any of the following:
(1) Knowingly enter or remain on the land or premises of another;
(2) Knowingly enter or remain on the land or premises of another, the use of which is lawfully restricted to certain persons, purposes, modes, or hours, when the offender knows the offender is in violation of any such restriction or is reckless in that regard;
(3) Recklessly enter or remain on the land or premises of another, as to which notice against unauthorized access or presence is given by actual communication to the offender, or in a manner prescribed by law, or by posting in a manner reasonably calculated to come to the attention of potential intruders, or by fencing or other enclosure manifestly designed to restrict access;
(4) Being on the land or premises of another, negligently fail or refuse to leave upon being notified by signage posted in a conspicuous place or otherwise being notified to do so by the owner or occupant, or the agent or servant of either.
(B) It is no defense to a charge under this section that the land or premises involved was owned, controlled, or in custody of a public agency.
(C) It is no defense to a charge under this section that the offender was authorized to enter or remain on the land or premises involved, when such authorization was secured by deception.
(D)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(2) Notwithstanding section 2929.28 of the Revised Code, if the person, in committing the violation of this section, used a snowmobile, off-highway motorcycle, or all-purpose vehicle, the court shall impose a fine of two times the usual amount imposed for the violation.
(3) If an offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to two or more violations of this section or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, and the offender, in committing each violation, used a snowmobile, off-highway motorcycle, or all-purpose vehicle, the court, in addition to or independent of all other penalties imposed for the violation, may impound the certificate of registration of that snowmobile or off-highway motorcycle or the certificate of registration and license plate of that all-purpose vehicle for not less than sixty days. In such a case, section 4519.47 of the Revised Code applies.
(E) Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code, if the offender, in committing the violation of this section, used an all-purpose vehicle, the clerk of the court shall pay the fine imposed pursuant to this section to the state recreational vehicle fund created by section 4519.11 of the Revised Code.
(F) Subject to divisions (G) and (H) of this section, it is an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of this section that the person charged knowingly entered or remained on abandoned land or a place of public amusement that was abandoned land during the daylight hours from sunrise to sunset without privilege to do so and that the person received an order from the court pursuant to section 2305.117 of the Revised Code permitting the person to enter the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to remediate that land or both of the following apply:
(1) The person knowingly entered or remained on that land or place of public amusement for the sole purpose to remediate that land or place of public amusement.
(2) Before entering upon that land or place of public amusement, the person knew, or after duly investigating the matter had reasonable cause to believe, that the land was abandoned land or that the place of public amusement was a place of public amusement that was abandoned land.
(G) Division (F) of this section does not apply if an individual who enters upon abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land for the purposes described in division (F) of this section remediates or makes any cosmetic improvement to a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land, engages in any act or conduct that results in any additional damage to a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land, or engages in any act or conduct that would require the individual to enter the interior of a manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or park trailer that is located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land.
(H) Division (F) of this section does not apply with respect to any land that is owned by a railroad.
(I) As used in this section:
(1) "All-purpose vehicle," "off-highway motorcycle," and "snowmobile" have the same meanings as in section 4519.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Land or premises" includes any land, building, structure, or place belonging to, controlled by, or in custody of another, and any separate enclosure or room, or portion thereof.
(3) "Abandoned land" has the same meaning as in section 323.65 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Remediate" means to improve the landscaping, clean up litter, or repair dilapidated conditions on abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land or to board up windows and doors on any building or structure that is located on the abandoned land or place of public amusement. Remediate does not include any of the following:
(a) Any cosmetic improvement, including painting of any kind other than painting a board for boarding up a window or door, to any building or structure that is located on abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land;
(b) Any act or conduct that results in any additional damage to abandoned land or a place of public amusement that is abandoned land or to any building or structure that is located on any such land or place.
(c) Any act or conduct that would require the individual entering the abandoned land or the place of public amusement that is abandoned land to enter into the interior of any building or structure on that abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land unless it is necessary for the individual to enter into the interior of the building or structure on that abandoned land or place of public amusement that is abandoned land in order to board up the windows and doors in the building or structure.
(5) "Place of public amusement" has the same meaning as in section 2911.23 of the Revised Code.
(6) "Railroad" has the same meaning as in section 4907.02 of the Revised Code.
(7) "Manufactured home" has the same meaning as in section 3781.06 of the Revised Code.
(8) "Mobile home," "park trailer," and "travel trailer" have the same meanings as in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.
Section 2.  That existing section 2911.21 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.
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