A Minnesota trespass notice form is a written warning telling a specific person they are no longer welcome on your property and that coming back will be a criminal offense under Minnesota Statutes Section 609.605. To use one, pick up a blank form from your local police department or sheriff’s office, fill in the details about the banned person and the property, deliver it in person or by certified mail, and file a copy with law enforcement so officers have it on record when you call.
Where To Get a Blank Form
Many Minnesota cities and counties publish free trespass notice templates through their police departments or sheriff’s offices. Grand Rapids offers a downloadable PDF on its police department page, and the City of Kenyon and Brown County each post their own fillable versions online.1Grand Rapids Minnesota. Trespass Notice If your jurisdiction doesn’t have one online, call or stop by the local police records office and ask. Layout varies from one agency to the next, but every version collects the same core information and points to the same statute.
You aren’t required to use an official template. A letter you write yourself is valid as long as it contains all the required details and clearly states the person is forbidden from entering. Using the police department’s form does have a practical edge, though: officers already know the format, which speeds things up when they need to verify the ban during a call.
Filling Out the Form
Standard Minnesota trespass notices collect three blocks of information: who is being banned, what property they’re banned from, and who is issuing the notice. Vague entries in any of them can undermine enforcement later, so take the extra minute to be specific.
The Person Being Banned
Enter the individual’s full legal name. Most forms also ask for their address, phone number, date of birth, sex, height, weight, eye color, and race.2City of Kenyon, Minnesota. Minnesota Trespass Notice Form If you don’t know the person’s name, fill in as much physical description as you can. Brown County’s form has dedicated fields for height, weight, eye color, and hair color so officers can identify the person from the description alone.3Brown County, Minnesota. Notice of Trespass Form Add tattoos, scars, or other distinguishing features in any blank space the form provides.
The Property
Write the exact street address. If the property doesn’t have a standard address, such as a rural parcel, parking lot, or outbuilding, describe the boundaries clearly enough that both the banned person and any responding officer can tell where the restricted area begins and ends. The Kenyon form uses a single location field and states the person is “prohibited from trespassing, entering or occupying the land, dwelling and/or property” at that address.2City of Kenyon, Minnesota. Minnesota Trespass Notice Form
Who’s Issuing It, and For How Long
Print the name of the person issuing the notice. This is usually the property owner, a property manager acting on the owner’s behalf, or another authorized agent. The form also asks for the date and time of the incident that prompted the notice and the start and end dates of the ban. Most Minnesota forms cap the duration at one year to match the trespass statute.3Brown County, Minnesota. Notice of Trespass Form
How Long the Ban Can Last
Minnesota Statutes Section 609.605, subdivision 1(b)(8) makes it a misdemeanor to return to someone’s property within one year after being told to leave and not come back. That one-year window is the enforceable duration built into the statute, and it’s why police-issued forms typically stop at one year. A separate clause, subdivision 1(b)(7), applies to anyone who returns at any point with the intent to harass, disturb, or threaten, no matter how much time has passed.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.605 – Trespass Even after a one-year notice expires, a person who comes back to cause trouble can still be charged.
If you want the ban to continue past a year, issue a new notice before the current one expires. Some property owners renew annually as routine. Repeat the whole process each time: new form, new service, new copy filed with police.
Serving the Notice
The notice has to reach the banned person in a way you can prove later. Minnesota forms give you two delivery options: in person or by certified mail.2City of Kenyon, Minnesota. Minnesota Trespass Notice Form
To serve it in person, hand the form directly to the individual. If the form has a signature line for the recipient, ask them to sign. If they refuse, note the refusal on the form. What matters is that the notice was delivered, not that they agreed to it. Having a witness present strengthens your proof of delivery.
To serve it by mail, send it USPS certified with return receipt requested. The signed return receipt becomes your proof. Keep that card with your copy of the notice.
Whichever method you use, the Kenyon form advises making two copies: one for the banned person, one for your records. Attaching a photograph of the individual to your copy is a smart move if you have one.2City of Kenyon, Minnesota. Minnesota Trespass Notice Form
Filing a Copy With Law Enforcement
After serving the notice, file a copy with your local police department or sheriff’s office. The Grand Rapids Police Department, for example, accepts copies by email at its police records address and instructs residents to complete the form, serve it, then file it.1Grand Rapids Minnesota. Trespass Notice Other agencies want the original brought in. Call ahead to confirm the preferred method.
Getting the notice on file matters more than most people realize. When you call police because the banned person has returned, the responding officer can pull the notice from their records system and confirm the ban is active. Without a filed copy, you’re asking officers to take your word for it on the spot, which slows the response and can be the difference between an arrest and a verbal warning.
What Happens If the Person Comes Back
Returning to your property within one year after being told to leave is a misdemeanor under Section 609.605, subdivision 1(b)(8).4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.605 – Trespass Under Minnesota’s general sentencing statute, a misdemeanor conviction can carry up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.03 – Punishment When Not Otherwise Fixed Repeat offenders who qualify for enhanced penalties under Section 609.153 face up to 365 days of imprisonment and fines reaching $3,000.2City of Kenyon, Minnesota. Minnesota Trespass Notice Form
When a Trespass Notice Isn’t Enforceable
A trespass notice isn’t a blank check to exclude anyone for any reason. If your property is a place of public accommodation, such as a restaurant, hotel, store, or theater, civil rights laws restrict who you can ban and why.
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits places of public accommodation from denying access based on race, color, religion, or national origin.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 2000a – Prohibition Against Discrimination or Segregation in Places of Public Accommodation The Americans with Disabilities Act separately protects the right of people with disabilities to bring trained service dogs into any area where other customers are allowed, and issuing a trespass notice over a legitimate service animal violates federal law.7ADA.gov. Service Animals
Minnesota’s own protections reach further. The Minnesota Human Rights Act makes it an unfair discriminatory practice to deny anyone full and equal enjoyment of a place of public accommodation because of race, color, creed, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, sex, or gender identity.8Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Minnesota Human Rights Act A trespass notice issued against someone because they belong to one of these protected classes isn’t just unenforceable. It can trigger a discrimination complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
None of this stops you from banning someone for disruptive behavior, theft, threats, or any other conduct-based reason. The reason on the notice needs to be what the person did, not who they are. Document the specific incident on the form itself and in any notes you keep, so the conduct-based justification is on record if it’s ever challenged.