State senator pledges to fight against criminalizing homelessness in bill
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's Senate Bill 197 as it stands Wednesday afternoon makes "street camping" illegal and a jailable offense, said state Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette.
"It's coming out," Alting said Wednesday afternoon about the House's amendment to make sleeping on public land or on sidewalks a Class C misdemeanor. "(The bill's author) agrees with me that is not the correct way to handle homelessness.
"We're a society of compassion."
As the bill currently reads, sleeping or camping on publicly owned property becomes a Class C misdemeanor.
An officer can warn those found sleeping or camping on publicly owned land. If the person is living on a sidewalk or a public right of way, they have 24 hours to move, based on the current version of the bill. If they are camped on publicly owned lands that are not on a right of way, the person must move within 72 hours of being warned.
Failure to move is a Class C misdemeanor, and a conviction can carry a possible sentence up to 60 days in jail and a fine up to $500, according to Indiana law.
Officers who sense there is a mental health issue can take the person to be evaluated. They also can give the homeless a ride to facility that will help the person such as a crisis intervention center, according to the version of the bill as of Wednesday afternoon.
Originally, the bill addressed problems surrounding unsafe buildings and the property owners' responsibilities. But after the House amendment, it criminalizes homelessness, Alting said.
"For whatever reason, these folks are homeless," Tippecanoe County Sheriff Bob Goldsmith said Wednesday morning. "Now they want to criminalize homelessness.
"I foresee this being a problem when we're filling our jails with homeless people," Goldsmith said. "That's not good use of our resources."
Alting said the Senate likely will vote in the coming days to remove the "street camping" portion of the bill.
When that happens, the bill will go to reconciliation, where members of both chambers of the General Assembly will hammer out their differences so that the bill can be approved and sent to the governor's desk for his signature or his veto.
Alting is on the reconciliation committee for the Senate.
He said he's hearing that the House members on the reconciliation committee might push for wording that makes it illegal to sleep on the street or sidewalk, while not pushing the issue of homelessness camps on publicly owned lands.
Alting said we're a free society, and homelessness should not be criminalized.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Sen. Alting pledges to fight against criminalizing homelessness in bill
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