Florida: Under new law banning sleeping in public, will homeless people be arrested?

The new Florida law banning people experiencing homelessness from sleeping or camping overnight on public property took effect Tuesday, putting local governments under a time crunch to come up with solutions to avoid being sued.

A concern for some is whether the new law means homeless people will be arrested solely for sleeping in public places. In South Florida, elected officials and several law enforcement agencies say that’s not the plan.

Both the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office have said they don’t intend to start making arrests, and some cities and counties agree that arrests are not the first option they plan to pursue.

In Palm Beach County, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, the mayor and county administrator are in agreement, PBSO spokesperson Teri Barbera in an email this week. “… we cannot arrest our way out of this problem and need a multifaceted approach to address it,” the email said.

What the law says

City and county governments across the state and in South Florida have until Jan. 1 to figure out a plan for where people can sleep overnight instead of public property — otherwise citizens, businesses or the state Attorney General can file lawsuits against them for violations.

Under the law, titled “Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping” (HB 1365), elected officials can designate city-owned or county-owned property to be used for public camping or sleeping encampments for up to one year. They must prove that there are not enough open beds in shelters.

There are nearly 2,500 people estimated to be experiencing homelessness in Broward County, according to 2024 Florida Department of Health data. Recent data from one yearlong study shows an estimate of more than 8,000 people. And the about 600 beds in Broward County’s shelters are already full, said Mikal Cartier, CEO of TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness.

Fort Lauderdale elected officials in recent months have weighed ideas like using parking lots or garages, and one mayoral candidate recently suggested that the city use a small piece of land near Chase Stadium, home to Inter Miami.

While the city devises a final plan before Jan. 1, Fort Lauderdale Police’s Homeless Outreach Unit will continue its normal work “in the meantime” and plans to follow the city’s guidelines on how to respond to the new law, Fort Lauderdale Police Department spokesperson Casey Liening said Tuesday.

Broward County Mayor Nan Rich told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday that the county is planning to provide people with individual tiny homes, which has been done in Tampa and elsewhere across the country. A location has not yet been decided.

Palm Beach County is considering a plan similar to Broward’s for tiny homes. Mayor Maria Sachs said they’re planning to put people in “mini cottages” that can be set up in a matter of days and will provide a place to sleep, a small kitchen and a bathroom. They’ll be located in industrial or commercial areas.

The encampments must also have, at minimum, clean working restrooms and running water. The law does not prohibit people from sleeping overnight in a car that is parked somewhere lawfully.

Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony in a video shared to his Instagram account in early September staunchly said that HB 1365 does not specifically mention law enforcement or their responsibilities.

“In this legislation, there’s a word count (of) about 1,643 words in there, and nowhere in that legislation does it mention jail or the Sheriff’s Office,” Tony said in the video. “It is exclusively focused on having the accountability aspect on the county government and local municipals …”

Cartier said the law is “not doing a lot” other than “creating stress on the system.”

“I don’t think it’s doing any good. It’s wasting resources and just adding stress to an already stressful situation. The major issue here is that this bill applies to every county in the state, but every county in the state is different,” Cartier said.

Tony in an op-ed published in the Sun Sentinel in September wrote: “Rounding up the homeless and bringing them to downtown Fort Lauderdale or Pompano Beach to be housed in the county jails is neither a good solution, nor an available one.”

Arrests are ‘last resort’

Rich said Broward will use a civil citation program for enforcement. If someone were to violate the law three times, they then could be arrested, she said.

The plans for encampments elected officials everywhere are working on are so that they can prevent people from being arrested, she said.

“The bottom line is that we want to implement this in the most humane way possible. We don’t want to put people into jails,” Rich said. “That’s not how you solve homelessness. Affordable housing is how you resolve homelessness.”

Tony in his video said he was “troubled” by the law’s Oct. 1 effective date creating a “scrambling effect across this entire county.”

“We are not going to arrest our way out of this. There has to be a better solution in place that will not penalize and criminalize just simple homelessness. Now, if crimes are associated with individuals and they have to go to jail, then that’s fine,” Tony said in the video. “That’s part of my responsibility. But I will not allow county government or municipal cities to start using this jail as the de facto homeless facility.”

Cartier told the Sun Sentinel that his organization’s sense is that arrests will only be “a last resort.” The goal is to get people into shelters or services, and if they refuse, be given a notice to appear in court.

“Nobody seems really interested in arresting these people,” Cartier said. “These are vulnerable individuals who are not necessarily committing real crimes. They’re just living in poverty and trying to survive.”

Fort Lauderdale city officials in a news release Monday said once they receive a complaint, law enforcement will make contact with the person sleeping in public, and the person will be taken to a shelter if possible or a hospital or treatment center if needed. If they don’t leave, they’ll be given a notice to appear in court or “possibly arrested.”

“Arrest is an option, but it’s not the goal,” city spokesperson Ashley Doussard said in an email Tuesday.

But Tony in his op-ed wrote that he has instructed the jails “to no longer accept individuals who are brought to the jail for purely municipal ordinance violations.”

Sachs said the law isn’t about arresting people. Law enforcement will transport people to a designated encampment, she said.

“It does not make the homeless criminals,” Sachs said. “What it does is it puts the burden on municipalities for every homeless person that’s sleeping in a public place.”

Complaints

As of Tuesday, people can start submitting written complaints to local governments.

Fort Lauderdale will take complaints through the app FixIt FTL or online, the city said in its new release. All complaints must be written and have to include the specific location and time of the violation and a “description of the individual or situation.”

Broward County will also use an app, Cartier said. Complaints submitted through that app will go directly to his organization, and they will assess and try to resolve the complaint, then report back to the county within three days.

“We’re constantly going to be spending dollars and energy chasing these complaints,” he said.

Cartier said on average they get about eight requests for help a day from elected officials. He said now with the app, that could increase to possibly 100 a day.

“It very much seems like this is going to turn into legal battles and lawsuits and just a lot of court cases and not necessarily individuals being incarcerated,” he said.