HB 1196 -- Landowner Liability to Trespassers

Sponsor:  Cauthorn

This bill changes the laws regarding a landowner's liability as
it applies to an individual trespassing on the owner's land.  In
its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Defines "trespasser," as it applies to these provisions, as
any person who enters on the property of another without
permission and without an invitation, express or implied,
regardless of whether actual notice of trespass was given or the
land was posted with signs or purple markings in accordance with
Sections 569.140 and 569.145; and

(2)  Specifies that a possessor of real property owes no duty of
care to a trespasser, except to refrain from harming the
trespasser by an intentional, willful, or wanton act and may use
justifiable force to repel a criminal trespasser.  However, a
possessor of real property may be subject to liability for
physical injury or death to a trespasser in specified situations,
including if the trespasser is a child who is harmed by a
dangerous artificial condition on the land, the possessor knew or
should have known that trespassers consistently intrude upon a
limited area of the land where the trespasser was harmed by a
dangerous artificial condition on the land, or the possessor knew
of the trespasser's presence on the land and failed to exercise
ordinary care as to active operations carried out on the land.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated January 13, 2012 at 10:25 am