BB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 25,1981
“No Trespassing" not a very
friendly expression but one that
more and more farmers are being
forced to use
All along the rural routes these
days, you see tnose signs nailed on
trees and fence posts bearing such
messages as no trespassing,
posted, no hunting or trespassing,
no admittance, and so on.
Whatever the wording, the signs
are there to remind folks that
landowners have certain rights
The signs are part of the lan
downers’ legal way of protecting
those rights
Across the land, courts have
ruled that property owners have
the right to defend their property.
Part of that defense is to tell people
they’re not welcome. The courts
have also ruled that because a
farm is posted doesn’t mean the
landowner has the right to shoot
trespassers or otherwise exhibit
“excessive force ” They have
clearly said that farmers have the
right to protect their property from
outsiders But there are some rules
farmers must follow in their
dealings with invaders or potential
invaders
A recent North Carolina ex
tension publication deals with the
general subject of law and the
landowner, listing some rules and
regulations as they apply to that
state Granted, there are dif-
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ferences between states, but in
general the laws of trespass hold
up throughout the country.
Bame Stokes author of the ar
ticle, says most state laws says a
landowner may not willfully or
wantonly injure a trespasser.
However, as a general rule, the
landowner owes only a slight duty
of care toward a trespasser. What
that means is that a landowner
doesn’t have to keep his premises
safe for a would-be trespasser or
provide warnings about dangerous
conditions the trespasser might
encounter
Courts m that state, for example,
have refused to impose Lability for
the drowning of a trespasser in an
RDTEC
In that case, Stokes thinks the
farmer would be well advised to
call law enforcement authorities
f for assistance, because any
threatening act that might include
deadly force could be turned
against the farmer in court
Stokes says the law recognizes
that a child who goes on land
without legal right or permission is
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unguarded excavation pit They
also disallowed an injury claim
sustained by a trespassing
motorcycle rider who drove at high
speed into a cable stretched across
a farmer’s driveway.
In that case, the court said the
landowner did not act willfully and
wantonly when he installed the
cable to prevent trespassing.
Stokes believes the key point in
the eviction of a trespasser is
whether the amount of force used
was or was not excessive. In
general, the use of deadly force
may be justified to repel an attack
upon the landowner’s person but
would not be justified to evict a
trespasser causing no serious
harm to trespasser or property
What about the trespasser who
refuses to leave the premises after
the farmer has made his intentions
clear 9
A doctrine called “attractive
nuisance” is a long-standing ex
ception to the rule that landowners
owe trespassers only the duty to
refrain from actively harming
them.
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It gives you three big pluses:
a trespasser But because that
person is a child, he can’t be ex
pected to exercise the care of an
adult So the law imposes liability
on the landowner for injury to a
trespassing child resulting from a
dangerous condition on the
property
The “attractive nuisance”
doctrine usually involves only very
young children who, according to
Stokes, cannot comprehend an
apparent danger. And, he says, the
landowner would probably be held
liable only if it is not economically
feasible to prevent access to the
condition or to render it safe
without frustrating the purpose for
which it was intended.
North Carolina courts have ruled
that natural bodies of water such
as streams and brooks do not
constitute attractive nuisances
Even an unenclosed irrigation
pond is not an attractive nuisance
if the landowner warns neighbor
children and their parents to stay
away from the pond. But merely
posting a no trespassing sign
probably does not constitute
adequate warning, according to
the expert.
When it gets right down to it,
dealing with trespassers involves
common sense and good
judgment. The courts aren’t apt
to rule against a farmer who has
used reasonable care and has tried
to keep his property safe. On the
other hand, the farmer who shoots
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an unwelcome hunter just because
he wandered past a no trespassing
sign is probably m trouble.
There was a famous case a few
years back in the midwest where
an unoccupied rural residence was
robbed several times. The owner
allegedly rigged a shotgun to fire
when the door was opened.
An invader was subsequently
injured and sued the property
owner.
In that case, the courts ruled in
favor of the injured party even
though he was in the act of com
mitting a crime because of the
unnecessary force involved. It was
the court’s judgment that the in
truder was not harming a person,
and therefore deadly force was not
justifiable.
More and more farmers seem to
be posting their property as a
means of discouraging trespassers
and avoiding some of the problems
brought on by unwelcome guests
That may mean some of the
neighborhness has left rural
America as farmers get larger and
more businesslike.
On the other hand, there are still
plenty of farm people who like
company, who welcome visitors
and who don’t mind someone
hunting on their property with
proper permission Rural America
isn’t closed to city folks It’s just
that farmers are being a little
more careful about who is
welcomed and who isn’t.
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