18-7042. INTERFERENCE WITH AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. (1) A person commits the crime of interference with agricultural production if the person knowingly:

(a) Is not employed by an agricultural production facility and enters an agricultural production facility by force, threat, misrepresentation or trespass;

(b) Obtains records of an agricultural production facility by force, threat, misrepresentation or trespass;

(c) Obtains employment with an agricultural production facility by force, threat, or misrepresentation with the intent to cause economic or other injury to the facility’s operations, livestock, crops, owners, personnel, equipment, buildings, premises, business interests or customers;

(d) Enters an agricultural production facility that is not open to the public and, without the facility owner’s express consent or pursuant to judicial process or statutory authorization, makes audio or video recordings of the conduct of an agricultural production facility’s operations; or

(e) Intentionally causes physical damage or injury to the agricultural production facility’s operations, livestock, crops, personnel, equipment, buildings or premises.

(2) For purposes of this section:

(a) "Agricultural production" means activities associated with the production of agricultural products for food, fiber, fuel and other lawful uses and includes without limitation:

(i) Construction, expansion, use, maintenance and repair of an agricultural production facility;

(ii) Preparing land for agricultural production;

(iii) Handling or applying pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals, compounds or substances labeled for insects, pests, crops, weeds, water or soil;

(iv) Planting, irrigating, growing, fertilizing, harvesting or producing agricultural, horticultural, floricultural and viticultural crops, fruits and vegetable products, field grains, seeds, hay, sod and nursery stock, and other plants, plant products, plant byproducts, plant waste and plant compost;

(v) Breeding, hatching, raising, producing, feeding and keeping livestock, dairy animals, swine, furbearing animals, poultry, eggs, fish and other aquatic species, and other animals, animal products and animal byproducts, animal waste, animal compost, and bees, bee products and bee byproducts;

(vi) Processing and packaging agricultural products, including the processing and packaging of agricultural products into food and other agricultural commodities;

(vii) Manufacturing animal feed.

(b) "Agricultural production facility" means any structure or land, whether privately or publicly owned, leased or operated, that is being used for agricultural production.

(3) A person found guilty of committing the crime of interference with agricultural production shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not more than one (1) year or by a fine not in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(4) In addition to any other penalty imposed for a violation of this section, the court shall require any person convicted, found guilty or who pleads guilty to a violation of this section to make restitution to the victim of the offense in accordance with the terms of section 19-5304, Idaho Code. Provided however, that such award shall be in an amount equal to twice the value of the damage resulting from the violation of this section.

History:

[18-7042, added 2014, ch. 30, sec. 1, p. 44.]