§708-823.6 Graffiti; sentencing. (1) Whenever a person is sentenced under section 708-821, 708-822, 708-823, or 708-823.5 for an offense in which the damage is caused by graffiti, in addition to any penalty prescribed by those sections, the person shall be required to:

(a) Remove the graffiti from the damaged property within thirty days of sentencing, if it has not already been removed and where consent from the respective property owner or owners has been obtained; and

(b) For a period of time not to exceed two years from the date of sentencing, along with any other person or persons who may be sentenced under this section for the same property, perform community service removing, within fourteen days, any graffiti applied to other property within two hundred fifty yards of the site of the offense for which the person was sentenced, where consent from the respective property owner or owners has been obtained, even if the property was damaged by another person;

provided that removal of graffiti shall not place the person or others in physical danger nor inconvenience the public.

(2) In lieu of performing graffiti removal pursuant to subsection (1), the court may require a person to perform one hundred hours of community service if the government agency that is responsible for supervising the graffiti removal lacks the necessary resources to ensure the person's compliance with subsection (1).

(3) For purposes of this section, "graffiti" means any unauthorized drawing, inscription, figure, or mark of any type intentionally created by paint, ink, chalk, dye, or similar substances. [L 2010, c 99, §1; am L 2011, c 156, §1]

COMMENTARY ON §708-823.6

Act 99, Session Laws 2010, added this section, requiring a person sentenced for criminal property damage, where the damage is caused by graffiti, to, among other things, remove the graffiti from the damaged property and to perform community service removing graffiti on other property within one hundred yards of the site of the offense for which the person was sentenced. The legislature found that graffiti was a community-wide problem. Act 99 was intended to impose appropriate penalties to deter the property crime. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 2974, House Standing Committee Report No. 495-10.

Act 156, Session Laws 2011, amended this section by extending the area applicable to graffiti removal requirements to two hundred fifty yards of the site of the offense; limiting graffiti removal requirements to cases where the removal would not endanger the convicted person or others or inconvenience the public; and allowing the court to impose a sentence of one hundred hours of community service instead of graffiti removal, where the government agency responsible for supervising the graffiti removal lacks the necessary resources to ensure the person's compliance with the graffiti removal. When a defendant who is convicted of property damage by graffiti is sentenced to remove graffiti within the same area where the defendant defaced the property of others, a defendant performs a valuable community service while gaining a direct understanding of the time and effort required by property owners and community members to restore what may take only minutes to vandalize. Conference Committee Report No. 53, Senate Standing Committee Report No. 1112.