Lexington police crack down on ‘unlawful camping’ after controversial law took effect

The Lexington Police Department has arrested one person and cited two dozen others for “unlawful camping” following the implementation of a controversial new Kentucky law that critics say criminalizes homelessness.

A sweeping anti-crime law in Kentucky — House Bill 5, called the Safer Kentucky Act by its supporters — took effect July 15. Among its many provisions is the establishment of a new crime, “unlawful camping.”

It bans people from trying to sleep or camp in specified public and private spaces that are not designated for camping, including on sidewalks or roadsides, under bridges, or in parks, parking lots, garages or doorways. Sleeping in a vehicle could count as camping, as could sleeping in tents, huts or other “temporary shelters.”

A first offense for unlawful camping is a violation, punishable by a $250 fine. Repeat offenses would be a Class B misdemeanor, which can bring up to 90 days in jail on top of a $250 fine.

As House Bill 5 worked its way through Frankfort, advocates for the homeless said the bill would punish people for not having a place to live without actually providing anyone with a home, especially as there aren’t enough shelter beds.

An estimated 2,410 people were homeless in Lexington in 2023, and there are only about 568 year-round shelter beds available.

As of Aug. 28, every shelter is full, said Ginny Ramsey, the executive director of the Catholic Action Center, one of the city’s three main shelters.

“We were hoping there would be leniency when all shelters are full,” she said.

‘System that continues to fail them’

To date, there has been one local man arrested for the new crime of sleeping outside where not allowed.

LPD Officer Matthew Barrett arrested a 61-year-old man on Aug. 8 for one charge of unlawful camping while he was sleeping outside a post office, the citation reads.

“The location of this incident is a public sidewalk with an overhang for a makeshift cover. (Vincent) was observed asleep on camping paraphernalia such as cardboard. Listed subject was previously warned not to camp at this location,” Barrett wrote.

Lexington police issued nine unlawful camping citations on the first day the law was enacted, department records show. Most of them were in the city’s downtown corridor.

Police issued at least 24 unlawful camping citations from July 15 to Aug. 14, according to documentation provided through the Kentucky Open Records Act.

The Herald-Leader requested “records of any citations issued ... that include KRS 511.110 (unlawful camping) as part of the citation.”

The department made a spreadsheet with citation data instead of providing the actual citations because the Herald-Leader did not ask for “copies of citations.” The Herald-Leader has filed an additional records request to obtain the citations.

Thirty calls regarding homeless encampments were made to the city’s 311 hotline, — where residents request services or report nuisances or problems — since July 15, according to Susan Straub, the city spokesperson.

In a July 10 interview with the Herald-Leader, Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said the new law wouldn’t mean more arrests by his officers. Instead, police would do what they’ve been doing: identify needs and contact resources like the Office of Homeless Prevention, the Community Paramedicine unit and such partners as the nonprofit Catholic Action Center.

“We talk about it all the time, and the truth of the matter is these situations are different, they vary from person to person. If we get a call, our first priority is not to arrest — that’s not even going to be our second, third, fourth, or fifth priority,” Weathers said days before the first citation would be issued.

Ramsey, the executive director of a local homeless shelter, was pleased to hear that.

But what advocates for the homeless were told to expect of law enforcement is different than what they have experienced, she said.

Ramsey said homeless providers thought people were going to get a warning prior to a citation. But Ramsey and others have heard people are being cited. In almost all of those cases, people are being cited for other charges such as fleeing from police or failure to appear, not just camping violations.

“The judges are dismissing it and dismissing the court costs,” Ramsey said. “They are getting warnings.”

Although Weathers said the law wouldn’t change their policing, his department — and every police department in the state — is required to enforce the ban.

The law says that government officials cannot directly or indirectly discourage their officers from enforcing the law, or ordinance that prohibits unlawful camping. If they were to do so, the attorney general can bring a civil action in any court against the officials.

Still, the law is new, and Ramsey and homeless advocates are worried those camping citations will put vulnerable people into a vicious cycle where they are cited, fail to show up for court and then cited again for failure to appear.

“It puts them in a cycle that is just not helpful,” Ramsey said. “Our folks that are mentally ill are going to end up in jail. They will not be getting treatment. Our folks are very fearful.”

The law also prohibits overnight parking or sleeping in cars for more than 12 hours. There are a lot of people, particularly families, who are now living in cars, Ramsey said. A group of churches is trying to come up with a plan to allow people to use church parking lots to park and sleep.

“The people who need the help are being put into a system that continues to fail them,” Ramsey said.

When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon city’s ban on “public camping” by homeless people in June, it undermined a planned legal challenge to Kentucky’s ban on camping.