Trespass warning: Definition and What It Means for Your Property

Why the warning matters

Under Texas Penal Code section 30.05, a person commits criminal trespass by entering or remaining on property without consent after having notice that entry was forbidden. Notice can be given orally or in writing, by a fence, by signs, or by purple paint marks on posts or trees in the case of land. For a property manager, the practical consequence is this: police can rarely do much about someone who is simply present on a property, but they can act on someone who was warned and came back. The warning creates the offense.

How Price Protection officers issue one

Authority comes from the owner. A security officer can give notice only where the client has authorized it in the post orders, and the orders say for what behavior and in what form. The officer identifies the person as far as possible, states plainly that they are not permitted on the property and must leave, gives the written notice where the client uses one, and records the event as an incident report with the time, a description, a photograph where lawful and practical, and the camera reference. Where the client keeps a trespass list, the entry goes on it and the next shift is told at handover. The officer does not lay hands on anyone to make them leave; a person who refuses is a matter for police, and the officer calls them.

What it means for the property

A warning that is recorded is a tool; a warning that lives in an officer’s memory is not. The written record is what turns a repeat visitor into a police matter and what protects the property if the person later claims they were never told. This page is a summary, not legal advice. The trespass warnings article covers the procedure step by step, and the loitering answer covers the case where a warning is not yet appropriate.