The Virginia Senate bill seeking to heighten the penalty for trespassing on rail trestles was pulled Wednesday at the request of the patron.
Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, said after consulting with stakeholders and legal counsel it was agreed the bill was moot because a tougher charge already is available under the state’s general trespassing statue.
Marsden’s Senate Bill 1416 aimed to ramp up the punishment for trespassing on train trestles, bridges, tunnels or railway yards.
Supporters said a history of fatal incidents on Virginia train trestles pointed to the need for a stronger deterrent — citing in part the recent deaths of college students on the Norfolk Southern trestle spanning the James River between Lynchburg and Amherst County.
Currently, trespassing on train tracks is a Class 4 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $250. Marsden’s bill sought to escalate that to a Class 2 misdemeanor or possibly a Class 1, both of which carry stiffer fines and the possibility of jail time.
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Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Doucette advocated for a Class 1 charge, noting the state’s general trespass statue already allows prosecutors to pursue that when a trespass happens on a site marked with no-trespassing signs.
Doucette’s office is filing Class 1 misdemeanor charges against the survivors of the last trestle fatality in Lynchburg, a November 2014 incident that left a Liberty University student dead.
He hoped Marsden’s bill would give prosecutors the flexibility to pursue the higher charge regardless of whether a trestle was posted with signs.
But the General Assembly’s legal counsel advised creating the threat of jail time would require the protected sites be posted with warning signs.
Under those circumstances, stakeholders said, a new law would be redundant. Instead, the rail companies have agreed to review their trestles and bridges to ensure they’re signed.
“Apparently, almost all of them are already,” Marsden said. “But I think what’s going to happen is the rail companies are going to check and make sure that these dangerous sites are posted if they weren’t before.”
The decision to pull the bill was made Wednesday morning with the support of stakeholders. Doucette said he had no objections if all trestles would be signed.
He added he’d like to organize some kind of training for prosecutors on the laws and options available when dealing with rail property. The rail companies expressed a willingness to partner in that, he said.
Pat Corp, of the rail employee union SMART, said his group agreed to the bill’s withdrawal. The union was unaware of the terms of the more general trespassing statue and will be watching the Lynchburg case with interest, he said.
In the meantime, he said, it will continue its work to raise awareness about the dangers — legal and otherwise — of venturing out onto a train trestle.
The local trestle over the James River alone has been the scene of at least 13 deaths since 1969, according to newspaper archives.
Contact Alicia Petska at (434) 385-5542 or apetska@newsadvance.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AliciaPetska