An analysis by the Idaho Attorney General’s office says a bill to overhaul Idaho’s various trespassing laws conflicts with a number of other parts of state code and may violate the U.S. Constitution.
The House Agricultural Affairs Committee voted 14-1 last week to send a measure to the House floor.
The one committee member who voted no, House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, of Boise, had some concerns about the bill’s legality, and asked the AG’s Office for an analysis. The report said the bill, as written, appears to be overly broad as it proscribes a great amount of lawful conduct and runs afoul of First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment protections.
The bill’s sponsor, Meridian Representative Judy Boyle, said she wants to make Idaho’s “patchwork” of trespassing violations consistent, and streamline them in the process. Property posting requirements and penalties currently depend on whether the action is criminal, civil or recreational trespass.
Boyle, a rancher, said the bill is aimed more toward repeat offenders, not people who get lost or accidentally trespass. It includes a three-strikes clause — if within a 10-year period someone is convicted of two trespassing charges, the third offense is charged as a felony. And it relaxes some property posting requirements.
Lobbyists for the Idaho Sheriff’s Association, Idaho Association of Counties, and Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association told the committee last week they had serious concerns about the bill’s wording. Michael Kane, representing the sheriffs and counties, said the bill might be indefensible in court and was possibly unconstitutional. He said it could also have unintended consequences — unintentionally criminalizing actions beyond what its authors intended. (Idaho Statesman)
