Bills Would Outlaw Homeless Encampments on State Land
Two bills are moving through the Legislature this session that would make it illegal to camp on state land other than designated campsites.
As Heather Warlick reported, the bills, House Bill 3686 by Rep. Chris Kannady, R-OKC, and Senate Bill 1854, by Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, were designed to move people out from under overpasses, where proponents and opponents agree there’s a safety risk.
If a version of the bills as they’re written were to become law, people with tents, shelters or bedding on state land would be warned and offered access to social services. If they refused services and refused to leave state land, they could be fined $50 or sentenced to as many as 15 days in jail.
As Kannady pointed out in a committee meeting, that’s not much of a penalty compared to most misdemeanors, which carry up to a year in jail and higher fines. Further, he argued, he doesn’t expect it to come to that but thought it was a necessary tool for law enforcement officers to have available in order to make the law effective.
Opponents argued that no one living on the street can pay a $50 fine and failing to pay would result in an arrest warrant. That would mean people posing no threat to society would be taking up jail space and resources.
“What I’m concerned about is criminalizing someone who doesn’t have a home,” said Sen. Julia Kirt, an Oklahoma City Democrat. “That doesn’t solve our problem. When we talk about moving someone across the street, that is still in our community. We’ve not solved that challenge that that person is facing.”
Heather reported that as of the annual Point in Time Count, there were at least twice as many people without a home as there were beds available in shelters.
The Vera Institute for Justice wrote in 2022 that people of color are disproportionally represented among the unhoused; nationally, only 12% of the population is Black, yet they comprise 39% of the unhoused.
Further, the Vera Institute found, homelessness and lack of affordable housing go hand-in-hand.
“The homelessness crisis is the affordable housing crisis,” Nazish Dholakia wrote for the Vera Institute for Justice. “Untenable rent burdens have priced people out of their homes. Investments in affordable housing remain inadequate. For Priscilla Coughran’s family, as reported by NBC, a rent increase of $150 meant her family could no longer make ends meet. They were evicted and ended up living in their car. Domestic violence is also a leading cause of homelessness, particularly for women. And because of the multitude of barriers they face securing housing and employment, formerly incarcerated people are almost 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population.”
Tulsa and Oklahoma City have each recently dedicated substantial resources to help those without a home, but the problem isn’t easily solved.
One unhoused person Heather interviewed but did not appear in the story, Collie, said he was homeless by choice. The idea of making state land illegal didn’t faze him much.
“I’ll just move to private property,” he said. “I have a way of endearing myself to people.”
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Lake Murray was the most popular Oklahoma state park in fiscal 2023 with 761,900 day visitors.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
