Missouri Laws 569.135 – Unlawfully entering or defacing a cave or cavern — penalty
1. Unless a person has the prior written permission of an owner, officer, lessee, or superintendent of a cave or cavern, such person commits the offense of unlawfully entering or defacing a cave or cavern if he or she:
(1) Willfully or knowingly breaks, breaks off, cracks, carves upon, writes or otherwise marks upon, or in any manner destroys, mutilates, injures, defaces, removes, displaces, mars, or harms the surfaces of any cave or any natural material therein including, without limitation, stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, anthodites, gypsum flowers, or needles, cave pearls, flowstone, draperies, rimstone, spathites, columns or similar crystalline mineral formation, including the host rock thereof; or
Attorney's Note
Under the Missouri Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class A misdemeanor | up to 1 year | up to $2,000 |
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 569.135
- Cave or cavern: any naturally occurring subterranean cavity enterable by a person including, without limitation, a pit, pothole, natural well, grotto, and tunnel, whether or not the opening has a natural entrance. See Missouri Laws 569.010
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(2) Breaks, forces, tampers with, removes, or otherwise disturbs a lock, gate, door or other structure designed to prevent entrance to a cave or cavern. A person violates this subsection whether or not entrance to the cave or cavern is achieved.
2. No additional appropriations may be made for the enforcement of this section.
3. The provisions of this section do not apply to vertical or horizontal underground mining operations.
4. The offense of unlawfully entering or defacing a cave or cavern is a class A misdemeanor.