- HB 1365 went into effect Oct. 1.
- It bans public camping or sleeping in non-designated public areas in all situations.
- There is one exception — the new law does not apply during state of emergencies.
- Watch now to hear from one unsheltered neighbor who rode out Hurricane Helene in a local encampment.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Here in Leon County, more than 300 unsheltered people are living in encampments like the one behind me.
While a new law makes these illegal, it does not apply during severe weather emergencies like we saw with Helene.
I'm Alberto Camargo in the Southwest Tallahassee neighborhood.
I'm digging into the state law and the impacts on people here in Leon County.
House Bill 1365: Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping says local governments cannot "allow public camping or sleeping on public property" — except for in areas that have been given the green light by the Florida Department of Children and Families.
But during severe weather, the law says encampments are OK.
I visited one near the Tallahassee International Airport Wednesday and spoke with David Gibbs.
He showed me just one small area of an encampment he says houses over 100 unsheltered people.
"We really don't know each other from a can of paint. But we all got together and came up with the same consciousness of, let's clean this up."
David says the law still confuses him, but his current camper held up well in the storm.
"I got to be able to accept where I'm at, so on and so forth and do the best I can."
The new law says designated camping areas must also include access to clean bathrooms, mental health and substance abuse resources. Something available at The Kearney Center — as long as room is available.
"Our client count is going up, its going to go up even more."
Sonya Wilson says the Kearney Center expects to be one of those designated areas.
And staff have spent months communicating the new law to every person that came through its doors.
"It's been a coordinated effort, and we really beefed up our outreach team. We've added a case manager so we're trying to house from the encampments."
I submitted a public records request to the DCF to find out if any areas in Leon County have been requested for authorization.
I did not immediately get an answer.
While the law is in effect now — anyone wanting to take legal action against counties that allow camping in unauthorized areas will have to wait until Jan. 1.
In Southwest Tallahassee, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
