SB1333

After verification, the officer must without delay serve notice to immediately vacate and put the owner in possession. Notice may be handed to an occupant or affixed to the dwelling’s front door or entrance. The officer must attempt to identify occupants and record their identities, and may arrest for an outstanding warrant or an offense supported by probable cause. This is a separate statutory process, not a repeal of ordinary eviction rules for tenants. Final law, section 24B.003; Prior eviction-notice framework; Prior writ-of-possession framework.

The complainant pays a fee equal to the officer’s fee for executing a writ of possession. After notice is served, the owner may request that the officer stay to keep the peace while locks are changed and belongings are placed at or near the property line; a reasonable hourly fee may be charged for staying. The act specifies no single statewide dollar price. Final law, section 24B.003(f)–(h).

Subject to the existing statutory exceptions in the grading provision, criminal mischief involving damage or destruction of a habitation causing $1,000 or more but less than $300,000 in financial loss becomes a second-degree felony when proved to have occurred in the course of criminal trespass. This does not make every trespass a felony or dispense with the criminal-mischief elements. The ordinary second-degree punishment range is 2–20 years in prison, with a possible fine up to $10,000; actual sentencing depends on the applicable case. The amended mischief rule applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1; if any element occurred earlier, the former law governs that offense. Final law, sections 1 and 4; Prior criminal-mischief elements and grading; Criminal-trespass law; Ordinary second-degree punishment.

Knowingly presenting a false, fraudulent or fictitious lease, deed or other property-interest instrument with intent to enter or remain on real property becomes a Class A misdemeanor. Knowingly advertising residential property for sale, rent or lease while knowing the purported seller or lessor lacks title or authority, or knowingly selling, renting or leasing without title or authority, becomes a first-degree felony. A narrow exception to the transaction offense—not a blanket exemption for false advertising—protects specified lenders, title companies, licensed real-estate brokers or agents, and their employees or agents who did not know another participant lacked title or authority. The act permits prosecution under these sections, another applicable law, or both. Final law, sections 32.56–32.57.

Ordinary Class A punishment is up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both. Ordinary first-degree punishment is 5–99 years or life in prison, with a possible fine up to $10,000. These are statutory ranges, not a prediction that every conviction receives the maximum or that any innocent paperwork error is criminal. Class A punishment; First-degree punishment; Final law.

The Senate substitute added constables alongside sheriffs and changed the two new offenses from allowing prosecution under one law but not both to allowing prosecution under both. The House substitute added the limited transaction-participant exception. The Senate-passed text otherwise matches its committee substitute, and the final text matches the House substitute. Although the online amendment index lists no separate amendments, the Senate Journal prints the complete House substitute as the amendment and records concurrence; that text was checked, not ignored. Introduced bill; Senate substitute; Senate-passed text; House substitute; Text index; Amendment index; May 28 Senate Journal, pages 2920–2925; Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Owners meeting the conditions gain a prompt removal process. Occupants face removal and possible criminal exposure, while officers must verify complaints and perform service. The act protects sheriffs and constables from liability for property loss or damage resulting from removals under the chapter. Owner and agent protection for removed personal property is expressly subject to the wrongful-removal remedy; it is not blanket immunity for misuse. Final law, sections 24B.003–24B.005.

A person wrongfully removed, or whose belongings are wrongfully removed, may sue to recover possession and seek from the requester actual damages, exemplary damages equal to three times the dwelling’s fair market rent, court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. This is not three times every claimed loss, and relief is not automatic without an action. The court must set the hearing at the earliest practicable date. The new chapter also preserves other owner rights and law-enforcement arrest authority. Final law, sections 24B.005–24B.006.

The March 23, March 28 and May 8 fiscal notes say the fiscal impact cannot be determined, because data do not establish how often the specified conduct occurs. New offenses and enhanced punishment could increase state and local correctional demands. Additional prosecution could increase state court-cost revenue by an unknown amount; service fees remain local. This is not a finding of no cost. Introduced fiscal note; Senate-substitute fiscal note; House-substitute fiscal note.

The three criminal-justice impact statements likewise say the correctional effect is indeterminate. Their statewide totals for existing trespass, mischief and fraud offenses are background figures, not forecasts of cases under SB1333. The act makes no appropriation and supplies no reliable dollar estimate of owner savings, wrongful-removal litigation or added correctional costs. Introduced impact statement; Senate-substitute impact statement; House-substitute impact statement; Final law.