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On 18 August 2015, the Jacksonville, Texas, television station KETK aired a segment that retriggered interest about a state law that many Texas residents were apparently unfamiliar with, one holding that markings of purple paint carry the same legal significance as No Trespassing signs: Enacted in 1997, the law states that the application of purple paint (typically in a shade known as No Hunting Purple) to property features such as trees and fence posts in a specified manner is the legal equivalent of posting No Tresspassing signs: That law spares landowners, particularly in rural areas, from having to continually replace printed signs that often end up being stolen or eradicated by the elements. Although purple paint can be used in place of No Trespassing signs in the state of Texas (if its application meets the requirements listed above), this information has been circulated online under misleading clickbait titles such as If You See Purple Paint on a Fence Post, Pay Attention! It Could Save Your Life, leaving readers with the mistaken impression that such markings indicate imminent danger. Although a person who willfully enters an area marked with No Trespassing warnings (either in the form of signs or paint) might be subject to criminal or civil penalties, such warnings do not in themselves indicate any significant level of danger, much less an imminent threat to life. In general, landowners may not use deadly force to protect property; they may only employ reasonable measures to repel trespassers (unless they believe those intruders pose a threat of great bodily harm or death). Only a few states, including Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas, have so far enacted formal laws establishing purple paint markings as the legal equivalent of No Trespassing signs.
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