General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Starbucks thing... [View all]Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)That is generally required in most states before a person can be considered trespassing in an area normally open to the public or without signage or clear indication people are not allowed.
For example when I was a deputy I was in a mostly rural area. If a person owned a parcel or wooded land and there are no signs saying people are not allowed if there were people on the property and the person did not want them there I could not cite them for trespassing right away. I would have to formally tell them they are not permitted to be on that property- to trespass them as we use in this context, and then see that they leave. If they refuse to leave at that point then they are trespassing, if they come back to the property later they are trespassing.
Now if there were clearly signs that they went past indicating that the property owner did not want people on the property then I didnt have to trespass them. But I would have to prove they entered in a manner where the sign was obvious. And of course tearing down no trespassing signs was a hobby of many of our less than honest residents. That is why NC joined many other states in passing the purple paint law saying purple paint on trees or rocks on property boundaries has the same legal standing as a no trespassing sign since you cant rip that down.
Signs are not required if there is other indicators people are not welcome. For example if you climb over a locked gate onto someones property that locked gate is a clear sign your not supposed to be there.
Typically it would be something like this for us- a person is caught shoplifting or causing a problem in a place of business. In addition to anything else we charge, or alone if they didnt want to press charges, they would ask us to trespass them. We would give them formal notice they were no longer allowed on the property and have our dispatchers record that in the event on the log, so for future reference it was recorded. If they refused to leave or came back after that they could be charged without any warnings to leave being required.