While the University campus is generally open to the public, not everyone is allowed on its premises.

Anyone who does something illegal, disruptive, harassing or threatening can be subject to a trespass warning, according to the University police department’s policy and procedure manual.

There are currently 76 people with active trespass warnings, according to the department. Those people aren’t allowed on any part of the University’s three sections of campus.

University Deputy Police Chief Steve Johnson said the warnings are usually in effect for one year, a standard length of time set for misdemeanor trespass violations, according to Minnesota law.

A warning, which usually bans the given person from the building where the trespassing occurred, as well as the bank the building is located on, must be hand-delivered to the person by an officer, he said.

Despite the standard timeframe of one year for a violation, University police Lt. Chuck Miner said it hasn’t always been set for that amount of time.

“The timeframe has bounced around quite a bit the last 10 years,” he said.

It has been six months and also 30 days in the past, he said.

Twenty-one of the 76 people on the University’s no-trespass list have been on the list in previous years, according to the police department – one man 25 times.

“He’s basically been living in University buildings for the past 15 years,” Miner said.

One instance when a warning might be issued is when a person who isn’t a student or staff member is in a University building after operational hours.

A person might also be added if he or she has been arrested for a burglary or theft on or near campus, Miner said. People might also be added if they have been victimizing a student or University staff member, for example after a relationship has ended.

“It’s fairly rare that they would be banned from the whole campus,” Miner said. “We generally limit it by bank.”

Though students have received trespass warnings in the past, he said, the warnings are usually given to nonstudents and staff who have no reason to be on campus.

Recent examples of people who have violated their trespass warnings are Richard Stevens and Matthew Pengra.

“Pengra would be a perfect example of a person we would trespass from all University properties,” Miner said.

Pengra, who was charged with the false imprisonment of a woman in a Wilson Library stairwell in October, is banned from the East Bank, the West Bank and the St. Paul campus after incidents at each location.

He was originally added to the no-trespass list for 30 days in May 2004 after harassing some women in St. Paul, Miner said.

Pengra is one of 12 people banned from areas within 50 feet of University property.

Stevens was arrested by University police last month at Williams Arena and was charged with trespassing after violating a trespass warning that banned him from all Gopher athletics events.

“Stevens is more localized to sporting events,” Miner said. “We never heard about him being around other parts of campus.”

Someone like Stevens, who is charged with trespassing, could face a maximum of 90 days in prison and a $1,000 fine, Miner said.