New Trespass & Damage To Critical Infrastructure Law – 2017 Oklahoma Laws #28

It’s now illegal to trespass or enter property containing a critical infrastructure facility without permission by the owner of the property or lawful occupant of it. This crime is a misdemeanor. The minimum fine is $1,000. The maximum punishment in the county jail is six months. This crime is a felony if the intent of the trespasser was to willfully damage, destroy, vandalize, deface, tamper with equipment, or impede or inhibit operations of the facility. The minimum fine is $10,000. The punishment in the Department of Corrections is one year.

It is also a felony to willfully damage, destroy, vandalize, deface, or tamper with equipment in a critical infrastructure facility. The fine is $100,000. The maximum punishment in the Department of Corrections is ten years.

If an organization is found to be a conspirator with people who are found to have committed any of the crimes described above, the conspiring organization will be punished by a fine that is ten times the amount of said fine authorized by law.

A critical infrastructure facility in Oklahoma is:

1. One of the following, if completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that are posted on the property that are reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders and indicate that entry is forbidden without site authorization:
   1. a petroleum or alumina refinery,
   2. an electrical power generating facility, substation, switching station, electrical control center, or electric power lines and associated equipment infrastructure,
   3. a chemical, polymer or rubber manufacturing facility,
   4. a water intake structure, water treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station,
   5. a natural gas compressor station,
   6. a liquid natural gas terminal or storage facility,
   7. a telecommunications central switching office,
   8. wireless telecommunications infrastructure, including cell towers, telephone poles, and lines—including fiber optic lines,
   9. a port, railroad switching yard, railroad tracks, trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility,
   10. a gas processing plant, including a plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas or natural gas liquids,
   11. a transmission facility used by a federally licensed radio or television station,
   12. a steel-making facility that uses an electric arc furnace to make steel,
   13. a facility identified and regulated by the United States Department of Homeland Security Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program,
   14. a dam that is regulated by the state or federal government,
   15. a natural gas distribution utility facility including, but not limited to, pipeline interconnections, a city gate or town border station, metering station, above-ground piping, a regulator station, and a natural gas storage facility, or
   16. a crude oil or refined products storage and distribution facility including, but not limited to, valve sites, pipeline interconnections, pump station, metering station, below or above-ground pipeline, or piping and truck loading or offloading facility; or
2. Any above-ground portion of an oil, gas, hazardous liquid or chemical pipeline, tank, railroad facility, or other storage facility that is enclosed by a fence, other physical barrier, or is clearly marked with signs prohibiting trespassing, that are obviously designed to exclude intruders.

HB 1123 created 21 O.S. § 1792. It went into effect May 3, 2017.

Sources: HB 1123 & 21 O.S. § 1792

Arrested for trespassing on a critical infrastructure?

Don’t panic!

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