Chapter 10.12
Offenses Against Property

Sections:

10.12.010 Disturbing Monument.

10.12.020 Malicious Mischief.

10.12.025 Malicious Mischief – “Physical Damage” Defined.

10.12.030 Definitions.

10.12.040 Making or Having Burglar Tools.

10.12.050 Trespass.

10.12.055 Defenses to Trespass.

10.12.057 Computer Trespass in the Second Degree.

10.12.060 Vehicle Prowling in the Second Degree.

10.12.070 Interference, Obstruction of any Court, Building, or Residence – Violations.

10.12.080 Reckless Burning in the Second Degree.

10.12.085 Reckless Burning – Defense.

10.12.010 Disturbing Monument.

No person may remove, deface, disturb, or otherwise interfere with any monument, benchmark, or other surveying device or mark.

[Ord. A4202]

10.12.020 Malicious Mischief.

A.  A person is guilty of malicious mischief in the third degree if he or she:

1.   knowingly and maliciously causes physical damage to the property of another, under circumstances not amounting to malicious mischief in the first or second degree; or

2.   writes, paints, or draws any inscription, figure, or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any real or personal property owned by any other person unless the person has obtained the express permission of the owner or operator of the property, under circumstances not amounting to malicious mischief in the first or second degree.

3.   Malicious mischief in the third degree under subsection (A)(1) of this section is a gross misdemeanor if the damage to the property is in an amount exceeding fifty dollars; otherwise, it is a misdemeanor.

a.   Malicious mischief in the third degree under subsection (A)(2) of this section is a gross misdemeanor.

[Ord. C31705; Passed: 9/3/1996]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.48.090.

10.12.025 Malicious Mischief – “Physical Damage” Defined.

For the purposes of SMC 10.12.020:

A.  “Physical damage,” in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes the total or partial alteration, damage, obliteration, or erasure of records, information, data, computer programs, or their computer representations, which are recorded for use in computers or the impairment, interruption, or interference with the use of such records, information, data, or computer programs, or the impairment, interruption, or interference with the use of any computer or services provided by computers. “Physical damage” also includes any diminution in the value of any property as the consequence of an act;

B.  If more than one item of property is physically damaged as a result of a common scheme or plan by a person and the physical damage to the property would, when considered separately, constitute mischief in the third degree because of value, then the value of the damages may be aggregated in one count.

[Ord. C31705; Passed: 9/3/1996]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.48.100.

10.12.030 Definitions.

The following definitions apply in this chapter:

A.  “Premises” includes any building, dwelling, structure used for commercial aquaculture, or any real property;

B.  “Enter.” The word “enter” when constituting an element or part of a crime, shall include the entrance of the person, or the insertion of any part of his body, or any instrument or weapon held in his hand and used or intended to be used to threaten or intimidate a person or to detach or remove property;

C.  “Enters or remains unlawfully.”

1.   A person “enters or remains unlawfully” in or upon premises when he is not then licensed, invited, or otherwise privileged to so enter or remain.

2.   A license or privilege to enter or remain in a building which is only partly open to the public is not a license or privilege to enter or remain in that part of a building which is not open to the public. A person who enters or remains upon unimproved and apparently unused land, which is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders, does so with license and privilege unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to him by the owner of the land or some other authorized person, or unless notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner. Land that is used for commercial aquaculture or for growing an agricultural crop or crops, other than timber, is not unimproved and apparently unused land if a crop or any other sign of cultivation is clearly visible or if notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner. Similarly, a field fenced in any manner is not unimproved and apparently unused land;

D.  “Data” means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts, or instructions that are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalized manner and are intended for use in a computer;

E.  “Computer program” means an ordered set of data representing coded instructions or statements that when executed by a computer cause the computer to process data;

F.  “Access” means to approach, instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from, or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, directly or by electronic means.

[Ord. C31792; Passed: 12/2/1996]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.52.010.

10.12.040 Making or Having Burglar Tools.

A.  Every person who shall make or mend or cause to be made or mended, or have in his possession, any engine, machine, tool, false key, pick lock, bit, nippers, or implement adapted, designed, or commonly used for the commission of burglary under circumstances evincing an intent to use or employ, or allow the same to be used or employed in the commission of a burglary, or knowing that the same is intended to be so used, shall be guilty of making or having burglar tools.

B.  Making or having burglar tools is a gross misdemeanor.

[Ord. C31792; Passed: 12/2/1996]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.52.060.

10.12.050 Trespass.

A.  A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the first degree if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building.

B.  Criminal trespass in the first degree is a gross misdemeanor.

C.  A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.

D.  Criminal trespass in the second degree is a misdemeanor.

[Ord. C31742; Passed: 9/30/1996]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.52.070, 9A.52.080.

10.12.055 Defenses to Trespass.

In any prosecution under SMC 10.12.050 it is a defense that:

A.  A building involved in an offense under SMC 10.12.050(A) was abandoned; or

B.  The premises were at one time open to members of the public and the actor complied with all lawful conditions imposed on access to or remaining in the premises; or

C.  The actor reasonably believed that the owner of the premises, or other person empowered to license access thereto, would have licensed him to enter or remain; or

D.  The actor was attempting to serve legal process which includes any document required or allowed to be served upon persons or property, by any statute, rule, ordinance, regulation, or court order, excluding delivery by the mails of the United States. This defense applies only if the actor did not enter into a private residence or other building not open to the public and the entry onto the premises was reasonable and necessary for service of the legal process.

[Ord. C29587; Passed: 12/26/1989]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.52.090.

10.12.057 Computer Trespass in the Second Degree.

A.  A person is guilty of computer trespass in the second degree if the person, without authorization, intentionally gains access to a computer system or electronic database of another under circumstances not constituting the offense in the first degree.

B.  Computer trespass in the second degree is a gross misdemeanor. (RCW 9A.52.120)

[Ord. C32021 § 50; Passed: 11/10/1997]

10.12.060 Vehicle Prowling in the Second Degree.

A.  A person is guilty of vehicle prowling in the second degree if, with intent to commit a crime against a person or property therein, he enters or remains unlawfully in a vehicle other than a motor home, as defined in SMC 16.04.305 or RCW 46.04.305, or a vessel equipped for propulsion by mechanical means or by sail which has a cabin equipped with permanently installed sleeping quarters or cooking facilities.

B.  Vehicle prowling in the second degree is a gross misdemeanor.

[Ord. C31792; Passed: 12/2/1996]

Cross Reference: RCW 9A.52.100.

10.12.070 Interference, Obstruction of any Court, Building, or Residence – Violations.

Whoever, interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the state of Washington or any political subdivision thereof, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or uses any sound truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the exercise by any court of the state of Washington or any political subdivision thereof of its power to punish for contempt. (RCW 9.27.015)

[Ord. C32021 § 51; Passed: 11/10/1997]

10.12.080 Reckless Burning in the Second Degree.

A.  A person is guilty of reckless burning in the second degree if he knowingly causes a fire or explosion, whether on his own property or that of another, and thereby recklessly places a building or other structure, or any vehicle, railway car, aircraft, or watercraft, or any hay, grain, crop or timber, whether cut or standing, in danger of destruction or damage.

B.  Reckless burning in the second degree is a gross misdemeanor. (RCW 9A.48.050)

[Ord. C32021 § 52; Passed: 11/10/1997]

10.12.085 Reckless Burning – Defense.

In any prosecution for the crime of reckless burning in the first or second degrees, it shall be a defense if the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that:

A.  No person other than the defendant had a possessory, or pecuniary interest in the damaged or endangered property, or if other persons had such an interest, all of them consented to the defendants conduct; and

B.  The defendants sole intent was to destroy or damage the property for a lawful purpose. (RCW 9A.48.060)

[Ord. C32021 § 53; Passed: 11/10/1997]