Understanding Landowner Liability for Trespassers in Oklahoma
Hello, I’m Oklahoma City attorney Dillan Savage of Wirth Law Office, and I practice primarily in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area. Today we are going to be talking about the duty that an agricultural landowner owes to trespassers.
Just straightforward, broadly speaking, an agricultural landowner does not owe any type of duty to a trespasser on their land. The only time that you are really going to be held liable for any injury that occurs to a trespasser is if you are negligent or grossly negligent, and that has caused the injury to these individuals.
That could be either through wanton negligence or wanton gross negligence, or, of course, if you are purposely malicious in causing that harm to that trespasser. In that way, we’re talking about setting up traps to hurt a trespasser that could, in fact, hurt really anyone who were to be on your property. So setting up, say, a trap gun is not legal. You cannot do that.
Clarifying Negligence on Agricultural Lands
Now, if an individual just trespasses on your land, goes and hurts their ankle or something of that variety, and you did not act in a way that would be considered negligent, you’re not going to be liable for that injury to that trespasser.
Now, what is negligence, you might say? It definitely can be argued what an act might be considered as negligence, but just broadly speaking, negligence is going to be the fact that you did not exercise a normal and reasonable level of care that a normal and reasonable person would normally exercise.
I know that sounds all very vague, but that’s kind of what it comes down to. Act like a reasonable person would act. If you don’t, you could be found negligent. You have to have a certain level of care out there. You can’t act intentionally or just unintentionally ridiculous and expect to get away with it, because you could cause some severe harm to individuals no matter what your actions were intended for.
Understanding Agricultural Land Under Oklahoma Law
Now, you might also be asking yourself, Well, what is considered agricultural land? So it is also defined under Oklahoma law in that same statute that I am referring to, and that statute again is Title II, Section 16-71.7. Agricultural land is defined as any real property that is used in the production of plants, fruits, wood, or farm or ranch animals to be sold off of the premises.
So that kind of defines pretty broadly what agricultural land is. And again, if an individual goes onto your property and trespasses on that property, more likely than not, you’re not going to owe any type of duty to them. As such, you’re not going to get in trouble if they get hurt, in all likelihood. But it is not impossible. So make sure you act in a reasonable manner.
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If you found this video to be helpful, or you believe it could help someone else, please visit theoklahomacityattorney.com. My name is Dillan Savage, and I’m the Oklahoma City business law attorney with Wirth Law Office. For a low-cost consultation, feel free to call me at 405-888-5400. Thank you for watching.
