Leon County Commission asks staff to draft public defecation, camping ordinance

The Leon County Commission voted 4-3 Tuesday to direct staff to develop an ordinance targeting camping, sleeping, urinating or defecating in certain public areas.

The commissioners supporting the move voiced a willingness to explore ordinances meant to curtail dangerous behavior from people without homes who don’t wish to seek help from local resources. Commissioners Nick Maddox, Kristin Dozier, and Jimbo Jackson voted against the motion.

Commissioner Brian Welch was the first to signal his support pursuing the drafts. He said he does not want to target the homeless community with arrests, but is concerned about safety issues, like setting fires on sidewalks and sleeping near intersections.

“I don’t think it is prudent of us to let people live like that. It is patently unsafe,” he said. “I am under the impression that we have people that don’t want the services, don’t want to be sheltered, just want to live dangerously.”

The vote included a reallocation of $490,817 in funding from the County’s Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office to support two additional LCSO Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) deputies. HOST is tasked with connecting individuals and families to available housing and local social services, including mental health counseling and substance abuse programs.

Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil, speaking to the Commission during its meeting, asked them not to pursue new ordinances until the new HOST deputies and other county programs have an opportunity to help the local homeless population.

County Commissioner Kristin Dozier wanted to follow McNeil’s request. She said fining homeless people for potential ordinance violations could just exacerbate the problem without providing any aide to them or those affected by the listed violations.

“We are not criminalizing the behavior, I know that, but it could be leaning in that direction, and that is really challenging for me,” she said.

The vote also included instructions to draft an ordinance repealing the county’s “solicitation on public streets” ordinance. The Leon County Sheriff’s office has not enforced the ordinance because federal court rulings have established soliciting is a form of constitutionally protected free speech. 

Commissioner Rich Minor, who supported drafting the ordinance, said he wants to look at the ordinance, but believes more focus should go into programs like HOST and efforts to increase local affordable housing. 

“It is not quite as simple as passing the ordinance and it’s a silver bullet,” he said.

County Attorney Chasity O’Steen said there are other legal concerns besides the soliciting ruling. The 8th Amendment, which protects individuals from cruel or unusual punishment, has been interpreted to prohibit the criminalization of homelessness. Therefore, the county would have to have a housing alternative for an ordinance to target sleeping or camping in public places.

“If you do not have alternatives, you have a problem,” she said.

County Commissioner Jimbo Jackson said he could support drafting the ordinance in the future, but voted it against it now because he wanted to see what the Sheriff’s office would do with the added HOST deputies.

“It’s not against the law to be crazy, it’s not against the law to be stupid, it’s not against the law to be homeless,” he said.

A draft of the ordinance will be returned to the Commission for consideration in early 2022.