January 25, 2012, Introduced by Reps. Walsh, Nesbitt, Tyler and Hughes and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to establish the liability of possessors of land for
injuries to trespassers on the land and property of the
trespassers.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"trespasser responsibility act".
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Child" means an individual who is 16 years of age or
younger.
(b) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.
(c) "Possessor" means a person who has any of the following
relationships to land:
(i) Is in occupation of the land with intent to control it.
(ii) Has been in occupation of the land with intent to control
it, if no other person has subsequently occupied it with intent to
control it.
(iii) Is entitled to immediate occupation of the land, if no
other person is in possession under subparagraphs (i) or (ii).
(d) "Trespasser" means an individual who goes on the land of
another without an express or implied invitation, for his or her
own purposes, and not in the performance of any duty to the owner,
lessee, or possessor of the land, regardless of whether the
individual has an unlawful intent.
(e) " Willful misconduct" means conduct, including a failure to
act, that was intended to harm the plaintiff.
Sec. 5. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a
possessor of land does not owe a trespasser on the land a duty to
either make the premises safe or warn the trespasser of conditions
existing on the premises, and is not liable in a civil action for
damages because of injury to the trespasser or the trespasser's
property.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if both of the following are
true:
(a) The possessor had reason to know that trespassers
consistently intruded on the land.
(b) Either of the following are true:
(i) The landowner did not act with reasonable care for the
trespasser's safety while carrying out an activity that posed a
risk of death or serious bodily harm and the activity resulted in
the injury to the trespasser.
(ii) A condition that posed a risk of death or serious bodily
harm existed on the property, the landowner had reason to know the
trespasser would not discover the condition and failed to warn the
trespasser of the condition, and the condition resulted in the
injury to the tresspasser.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the trespasser is a
child, the injury is caused by an artificial condition on the land,
and all of the following apply:
(a) The possessor knows or has reason to know that children
are likely to trespass at the place where the condition exists.
(b) The possessor knows or has reason to know of the condition
and realizes or should realize that the condition involves an
unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to child
trespassers.
(c) The child trespassers, because of their youth, do not
discover the condition or realize the risk involved in
intermeddling with it or in coming within the area made dangerous
by it.
(d) The utility to the possessor of maintaining the condition
and the burden of eliminating the danger are slight as compared
with the risk to the child trespassers.
(e) The possessor fails to exercise reasonable care to
eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the child trespassers.