California bill would stop cities from fining, jailing homeless people for camping

Theresa Clift, The Sacramento Bee on Mar 27, 2025

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On Friday, Sacramento police took Ginger Gibbons to jail for violating a city ordinance — camping on public property.

After several hours at the downtown jail, she said she returned to her North Sacramento camp to find her belongings and dogs gone. Among the items missing was her new ice chest where she planned to keep water bottles for herself and her camp mates as the summer heat approaches.

“I felt violated,” Gibbons, 56, said Thursday. “My anxiety has been so high since the words, ‘you’re under arrest.’”

Sen. Sasha Pérez, D-Pasadena, said hearing stories like those reported by The Sacramento Bee inspired her to announce Senate Bill 634 on Thursday. The bill would stop cities and counties from issuing fines and jail time to homeless people for “acts related to experiencing homelessness,” including camping.

Starting in 2023, there was an uptick in camping-related citations issued by the Sacramento police, a Bee investigation found.

Officials handed out 543 citations from August 2023 through December 2024, according to a Bee analysis of police data. By comparison, they handed out 30 citations for those same offenses during the prior 17 months. An increase in citations from the Sheriff’s Office began about five months prior to the city’s, in March 2023. In 2024 through early October, the sheriff’s department had issued 655 citations often related to homelessness, according to data acquired by The Bee through a California Public Records Act request.

The increase in citations predate the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling in June which paved the way for cities to clear homeless camps on public property and cite their residents without offering shelter beds. The city shelters are typically full on any given night.

Any discussion about the city and county’s plans to increase citations were had by the staff in private. A change in policy was not discussed by elected officials during public meetings. The city’s uptick happened after Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho started to publicly complain that the city wasn’t cracking down enough on homeless camps, ahead of suing the city.

The Sacramento citations often carry fines. Sacramento police gave Theresa Rivera, who uses a wheelchair, a camping-related citation in March 2024. She owes $333, according to court records.

Sen. Pérez said she has seen an increase in citations across the state, particularly since Grants Pass.

“We’ve seen $1,000 fines for individuals for being homeless,” said Perez, who was elected in November. “We’ve seen jail stays for simply being homeless. And recently we have even seen threats to fine individuals for ‘aiding and abetting’ the homeless ... It’s not just that these policies are inhumane, but they do not work.”

The Bay Area city of Fremont in February passed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to “aid and abet” homeless camps, which could make it illegal to provide food, water and medical aid, according to CNN. The bill Perez introduced would also prohibit fines for those types of actions.

Perez, who said she has homeless family members, believes jail time and fines are causing real damage.

“There are a number of ways that jail time, fines, and fees stemming from these ordinances contribute to pushing solutions further out of reach,” according to a Thursday news release announcing the bill. “Jailing people experiencing homelessness severs ties and undermines trust. Jail time makes it harder to get back into housing. Fines prolong homelessness. Fines and jail time double down on racial inequities. Criminal penalties make communities less safe.”

Gibbons’ time of arrest was listed as arrest time was listed as 11:20 a.m. Friday, according to the “notice to appear” document she was given. She was taken to the Sacramento Main Jail, where she was held until her release at 5 p.m.

“They never put me in a cell, they just wanted me out of they way to take the dogs and bulldoze all my stuff,” Gibbons said. “Just straight from booking to release tank to waste my day while they destroyed as much as possible.”

A Sacramento police spokesperson declined comment on the bill because it has not been signed into law yet. Sacramento Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Amar Gandhi did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Police gave five other homeless people citations for unlawful camping from the same camp, near the Marconi/Arcade Light Rail station, on the same day, according to the citations.

The dispersal of those people makes it harder to get them medical care and help finding housing, said Crystal Sanchez of the Sacramento Homeless Union.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, Public Advocates, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Disability Rights California and Inner City Law Center support the bill that Perez introduced.

Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang said Thursday that she supports the bill.

”My position has always been that we can’t arrest our way out of homelessness,” Vang said. “Unhoused residents are vulnerable and can’t afford to pay the fines.”

If the bill makes it to the governor’s desk and is signed by Newsom, it would take effect Jan. 1.