Boca Raton Adopts New Policies for Trespassing on City Property

A sign notifying visitors of the hours at a Boca Raton, FL city park. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Boca Raton city council members last week adopted an ordinance laying out new regulations for handling incidents of trespassing on city property, including parks. The ordinance, introduced last month, brings the city into alignment with state laws, but also recognizes “an increasing need for consistent, constitutional procedures to address unlawful conduct occurring in city parks, beaches, recreational facilities, and other public spaces.”

Though rarely reported in the press since the incidents are overwhelmingly minor in nature, arrests for trespassing are relatively common in Boca Raton – usually related to either petty crimes or vagrancy issues in parks and other facilities. On occasion, residents have brought forth the issue to city council members at meetings calling for increased enforcement.

A memorandum to city council members issued in advance of the adoption of the ordinance states the city has always followed state-mandated protocols for handling trespass incidents, though the local code was largely silent on enforcement and a codified administrative process for handling complaints. The lack of that inclusion in the code has “limited the city’s ability to impose time-limited exclusions or to provide structured notice and hearing procedures for affected individuals,” the memo said.

Under the ordinance, a trespass warning may be issued when an individual commits a qualifying violation – defined broadly to include violations of federal, state, or local law occurring on public property. The ordinance provides two distinct mechanisms for enforcement: “Adjudicated Trespass Warnings,” issued by a neutral hearing officer following a noticed administrative hearing; and an “Immediate Trespass Warning,” issued by law enforcement officers in limited circumstances involving “dangerous or disruptive behavior” or repetitive violations.

According to city officials, courts in recent years have scrutinized municipal trespass warning systems that lack adequate procedural safeguards or clarity of standards, emphasizing the necessity of due process, impartial adjudication, and meaningful review rights. The ordinance adopted by the council is designed to “meet and exceed these requirements” in a way that “balances public safety with fair access to public spaces.” Courts have, in some cases, invalidated municipal anti-trespass ordinance that fail to provide notice in the form of signage, appeal procedures, or other mechanisms for review.

The ordinance requires the installation of signage providing public notice that entry by an individual subject to an active trespass warning is unauthorized and may constitute criminal trespass. Immediate trespass warnings and expulsion from property can occur if an incident involves “actual or threatened physical harm to any person,” the brandishing of a weapon or other instrument that could cause harm, endangering or intimidating conduct directed toward minors, or any act of vandalism that could necessitate the need for a facility to be repaired. Such enforcement will also be valid if there is a situation that constitutes a substantial safety risk or disrupts the orderly operation of parks or facilities.

The ordinance provides a carve-out for “expressive activity” related to constitutionally-protected speech or protest. It also prohibits the targeting of individuals due to “perceived homelessness” unless that individual is in violation of a noted infraction or offense.