2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-THREE - Penal Code (§§ 1 — 4939) › Subtitle 1 - Penal Code of 1937 and Miscellaneous Laws (§§ 1 — 2204) › PART XI - Crimes Against Property (§§ 1561 — 2171) › Chapter 164 - Entering or Remaining in Buildings or Lands of Schools and Colleges Without Permission (§ 2091) › § 2091 - Entering or remaining without authorization

(a) Any person who enters the building or grounds of a maternal infant care, pre-school, or extended care center for school-age children, Head Start center, an elementary, junior, or senior high school, a private or public school in Puerto Rico, without the permission of the director or person in charge thereof, his/her substitute, or official or employee of a higher rank, or who, having completed a legitimate purpose in the building or grounds of said previously enumerated educational institutions or child care centers, remains within them after having been directed to leave the building or grounds thereof by the director or person in charge thereof, his/her substitute, a teacher thereof, or by any official or employee of a higher rank, or by a Commonwealth police officer or municipal or school guard, or any person in charge of the vigilance of any of the institutions mentioned in this section shall incur a misdemeanor. Upon conviction, said person shall be punished by a fine which shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment which shall not exceed six (6) months, or both penalties, at the discretion of the court. Any person subsequently convicted for the same offense, regardless of the place where the act is committed, shall be guilty of a fourth degree felony. Said offender shall be punished by a fine which shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment for a term of not less than six (6) months and one (1) day, nor more than three (3) years, or both penalties, at the discretion of the court. Such person may be considered for parole by the Parole Board after serving fifty percent (50%) of the sentence imposed.
After the regular school hours of such institutions, it shall be a misdemeanor not to obey the orders of a Commonwealth law enforcement officer or municipal guard, or of any person in charge of the vigilance of any of the aforesaid institutions, to leave the buildings and/or grounds of the school or college. Every first conviction for violation of this provision shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment for a term of not more than six (6) months, or both, at the discretion of the court. Any person subsequently convicted for the same offense, regardless of the place where the act is committed, shall be guilty of a fourth degree felony. Said person shall be punished by a fine which shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment for a term of not less than six (6) months and one (1) day, nor more than three (3) years, or both penalties, at the discretion of the court. Such person may be considered for parole by the Parole Board after serving fifty percent (50%) of the sentence imposed.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to:
(1) Parents or legal guardians of a student attending one of the previously mentioned educational institutions in a legitimate function in connection with said educational institution, with his son or pupil or with any teacher, officer or employee of said educational institution;
(2) students attending same, unless a contrary official order has been issued;
(3) officers, employees and teachers of the previously mentioned educational institutions, and
(4) Persons fulfilling a legitimate transaction in connection with the previously mentioned educational institutions, or with any teacher, student, officer or employee of said educational facilities. In case of doubt or confusion about the legitimate transaction being conducted, the Director or person in charge thereof shall determine whether access is to be authorized or not. If access is denied and the person refuses to leave, he/she shall be subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.
(c) If during the trial of any person accused of having committed the crime mentioned in subsection (a) of this section, [and] the entrance or loitering within the educational institution in question is proven, said proof shall be considered as a disputable presumption that the accused committed the imputed crime.
History —May 16, 1972, No. 30, p. 57; June 30, 1977, No. 135, p. 402, § 1; Sept. 9, 1983, No. 2, p. 341; Sept. 9, 1996, No. 208, § 1; Aug. 12, 2011, No. 182, § 1.