Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Criminal Trespass Law:

Here is a re-print of the statute:

PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGSIN CRIMINAL CASES

TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

CHAPTER 266. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

Chapter 266: Section 120. Entry upon private property after being forbidden as trespass; prima facie evidence; penalties; arrest; tenants or occupants excepted

Section 120. Whoever, without right enters or remains in or upon the dwelling house, buildings, boats or improved or enclosed land, wharf, or pier of another, or enters or remains in a school bus, as defined in section 1 of chapter 90, after having been forbidden so to do by the person who has lawful control of said premises, whether directly or by notice posted thereon, or in violation of a court order pursuant to section thirty-four B of chapter two hundred and eight or section three or four of chapter two hundred and nine A, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days or both such fine and imprisonment. Proof that a court has given notice of such a court order to the alleged offender shall be prima facie evidence that the notice requirement of this section has been met. A person who is found committing such trespass may be arrested by a sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable or police officer and kept in custody in a convenient place, not more than twenty-four hours, Sunday excepted, until a complaint can be made against him for the offence, and he be taken upon a warrant issued upon such complaint.

This section shall not apply to tenants or occupants of residential premises who, having rightfully entered said premises at the commencement of the tenancy or occupancy, remain therein after such tenancy or occupancy has been or is alleged to have been terminated. The owner or landlord of said premises may recover possession thereof only through appropriate civil proceedings.

Attorney George E. Bourguignon, Jr. has posted the following definitive examination of this issue:

"21 January 2010

There may be someone that you don�t ever want to enter your property again. Or there

may be someone you don�t want to enter your property at all, even once. In Massachusetts,

there is a way to make it a criminal act if a particular person enters your property.

Generally, the public is deemed to have an implied invitation to enter your property.

They may walk in areas that would be regarded as usual places to approach the house located

on a property. It is perfectly legal for a person to walk up to your front door on the walkway, or

even the lawn, and knock on your door to ask you a question, take a survey, or for any lawful

reason. (But, nowadays, some towns may have some limited restrictions on widespread doorto-

door solicitation or the like.) There are a few ways in Massachusetts to make this activity a

criminal act, or a criminal trespass. One is to post conspicuously placed No Trespass signs on

your property. This may be effective, but is probably not the type of message you would like to

project to the community at large. Most people don�t mind the occasional door knocker, but seek

to bar a select individual, or maybe a few, from even stepping foot on their property, let alone

knock on their door. The other way is to impose the Massachusetts criminal trespass statute.

The criminal trespass statute in Massachusetts can be found in Mass. Gen. Laws ch.

266 � 120. Basically, to employ this statute, a resident, with �lawful control� of the premises,

needs to notify the person or persons they wish to prohibit from entering. Oral notice appears to

be allowed. But it is probably safer to provide notice in writing, and in a fashion to be able to

prove someday that the notice was given. Once the notice is given, this law applies. The police

can arrest the prohibited person without the issuance of a warrant. The penalties upon

conviction are: 1) up to $100.00; 2) up to 30 days in jail; or 3) both.

This law also covers the situation when someone is asked to leave the property, and the

person refuses. For this there is no prior act you can take to strengthen your rights. But it is

good to know in advance to employ later if a situation arises.

If you are the landlord, you may employ this provision as well. However, a tenant is

deemed to have a limited easement in common areas, and can convey superior rights to the no

trespass notice to their invited guests. Commonwealth v. Richardson, 313 Mass. 632, 697

(1943); Commonwealth v. Nelson, 74 Mass. App. Ct. 629 (2009). However, this is a brief blog

written only for general information. There are exceptions to the law, and some legal

complexities that are not covered here. (For example, the differences and application of civil

trespass concepts). So, in the event you wish to employ the Massachusetts criminal trespass

statute, or have had it employed against you and want to learn more, we encourage you to

contact an attorney." Good Luck...