Property Owners Rights on Trespassing in Indiana | Legal Beagle

Property Owners Rights on Trespassing in Indiana

Written By
Renee Booker
Renee Booker
Oct 1, 2010
1 minute read

Indiana gives property owners the ability to deny entry to a person or order a person off her property for any reason. A violation of a property owners rights can be the basis for a criminal trespass charge.

Order to Leave

Indiana Code 35-43-2-2(1) covers denial of entry as the basis of a criminal trespassing charge. A property owner may deny entry to his property to anyone that has no contractual interest in the property. If the person enters the property after being denied entry they are guilty of criminal trespass as a Class A misdemeanor.

Refusal to Leave

Indiana Code 35-43-2-2(2) addresses refusal to leave criminal trespass. A property owner may order a person to leave her property at any time if they have no contractual interest in the property. If the person refuses to leave he is guilty of Class A criminal trespass.

Dwelling Entry

Indiana Code 35-43-2-2(5) makes entering the dwelling of a property owner a Class A misdemeanor for criminal trespass if the defendant enters without the permission of the owner.

Enhancement

Criminal trespass can be enhanced to a Class D felony if the defendant has a prior unrelated conviction for trespassing on the same property.

Renee Booker

Renee Booker has been writing professionally since 2009 and was a practicing attorney for almost 10 years. She has had work published on Gadling, AOL's travel site. Booker holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Ohio State…

Legal Beagle Logo

Legal Beagle is a keen, astute resource for legal explanations. Take control, understand your rights, and become a legal beagle.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.