Unauthorized Camping/Sleeping banned in Florida, this is what is important to know

October starts and new bills have rolled out in Florida with various categories, some serious and others not so serious in the Sunshine State. A 60 day meeting was held by Florida Legislature seeking to create important changes.

New bills include speciality license plates with Bill HB 403. Other bills focusing on more serious topics such as Sexual Offense Kits and DNA evidence to be stored anonymously for a minimum of 50 years with unreported crimes in Bill SB 764. 

However, the bill that caught the most attention is Bill HB 1365, which prohibits authorizing or allowing public camping or sleeping on public property without certification of designated public property by DCF (Flordia Department of Childrens and Families). The sole goal of passing this bill is to limit the number of people sleeping in unauthorized locations, or locations the county cannot assign to allow camping/sleeping.

The laws became effective as of October 1, 2024, making immediate appearance in public soon after - displaying the quick development of laws that directly impact the public wellbeing goal.

On Tuesday, authorities could be seen interacting with those camping in the streets - providing citations to those that were restrained from picking up their belongings. 

The truth is, the bill has started the approval process since January 1st, 2024, but this is not the only measure that will be put in place. Starting January 1st, 2025, residents, business owners and the state can sue municipalities they don’t think are doing enough. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis called the law “the right balance to strike.”

With all of the restrictions being set into place, there is no leeway to using public spaces for camping/sleeping, creating a grave issue for the survival of those that find themselves in homeless conditions.

In the past there have been counts on the number of people with unstable home conditions, and those displaced, all of those numbers are mostly always undercounted. The number is currently estimated to be around 30,000+, which starts discussion on where most of these people will be given safe shelter if the state can’t provide public usable locations for their living spaces.

With the state budgeting about $30 million, their goal is to assist municipalities with mental health and substance abuse treatments. Moreover, thousands of shelter beds have become available however, the number is nowhere near the amount of people who need daily assistance. 

The concern lies in where will those that are homeless seek shelter. Assuming that every space is placed at first priority to improve “public safety,” it is being taken into consideration that new encampments will be built. 

Public space in Florida is becoming a sought out topic, seeking for the millions of residents that are currently undergoing Florida’s big development phase which 

With short term expectations for the Sunshine State, sidewalks will be cleared, and strict rules that will be put into place at new homeless encampments, continuing to raise concerns for the future.