Code of Alabama - Title 35: Property - Section 35-15-28 - Owner must establish public use

Section 35-15-28 - Owner must establish public use.

(a) The liability limitation protection of this article may be asserted only by an owner who can reasonably establish that the outdoor recreational land was open for non-commercial use to the general public at the time of the injury to a person using such land for any public recreational purpose. Any owner may create a rebuttable presumption of having opened land for non-commercial public recreational use by:

(1) Posting signs around the boundaries and at the entrance(s) of such land; or

(2) Publishing a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality in which the outdoor recreational land is situated, and describing such land; or

(3) Recording a notice in the public records of any county in which any part of the outdoor recreational land is situated, and describing such land; or

(4) Any act similar to subdivisions (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), which is designed to put the public on notice that such outdoor recreational land is open to non-commercial public recreational use.

(b) The assertion of any of the provisions of the article by an owner shall not be construed to be (1) expressed or implied dedication; (2) granting of an easement; or (3) granting of an irrevocable license, to any person or the public to use such outdoor recreational land.

(c) Any person who enters non-commercial outdoor recreational land for any recreational purpose either with or without an invitation or permission from the owner, and either with or without knowledge that the land is held open for non-commercial public recreational use is subject to the provisions of this article.

(d) The availability of outdoor recreational land for non-commercial public use may be conditioned upon reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of public use as the owner shall establish.

(Acts 1981, No. 81-825, p. 1468, §9.)

Last modified: May 3, 2021