26-02-2025
Kentucky outlawed camping by the homeless. Now they 'gotta hide,' they say
COVINGTON, Ky. – Joseph Boles used to camp with a group of guys near the Ohio River. It was safer that way because he'd be less likely to have his things stolen when he was around people he knew, he said.
That was before state lawmakers passed the Safer Kentucky Act last year, which targets people living on the streets by making it illegal for them – or anyone else – to sleep in undesignated spaces.
Anyone cited with the offense for the first time can be fined. Subsequent offenses are Kentucky Class B misdemeanors and can bring more fines or jail time.
"The idea that people feel entitled to just plop down wherever they want and live is something that people resent because it was disruptive," said former state Sen. John Schickel, who supported it.
While the law was intended to make people feel safer in public, it's made life worse for people living on the streets.
Boles said about half dozen police officers showed up at the tucked-away campsite he and his friends had set up on the riverfront last summer.
"They said they passed that new law and we can't be here no more," he said.
But the new law didn't provide more resources or funding for people experiencing homelessness. It left Boles and other unhoused people with few options but to dodge police.
"You just gotta hide from them. It's hard," Boles said. "Ain't no help for the homeless out here."
One of Schickel's friends is a business owner in Florence. According to the former lawmaker, several unhoused people set up camp near a parking lot customers use.
"They got very aggressive with him when he asked them to leave," he said, but this was after the new law was passed.
"So the police came and told them if they didn't leave they were being arrested. And they left," Schickel said.
That's the kind of power and discretion intentionally built into the law.
At least 266 charges were filed at district courts throughout Kentucky from July 15 to December 31, according to recently released data from the Kentucky Center for Statistics, a government-run data hub.
The Northern Kentucky data shows, however, that local police aren't writing many tickets for unlawful camping.
Three charges were filed in district court in Kenton County and three were filed in Campbell County. None were reported in Boone County.
"Our police officers do use discretion. They don't want to cite people," Schickel said. "They just want to have an atmosphere in the communities where people feel safe to use public spaces."
Professor Dennis Culhane, who teaches social policy at the University of Pennsylvania, has a different word for how laws like unlawful camping are often being enforced: intimidation.
He's spent decades researching homelessness and assisted housing policy. In that time, Culhane has found that laws like the ones making camping illegal don't work.
"They have to sleep somewhere. They're not going to just disappear," he told The Enquirer, referring to unhoused people. "It just points out the fact that we don't have a sufficient safety net for people who experience homelessness."
John Miller of Northern Kentucky said he has experienced homelessness on and off for the past three years. The key to living on the streets?
"Don't be noticeable," he said, and that means something different since the new law passed.
He used to camp with a group of guys he knows. Now, he's able to sometimes snag a few hours of sleep in a stairwell or entryway.
Police have caught him a few times. They usually just verify his identification, ensure he doesn't have any warrants, and let him go with a warning about unlawful camping, Miller said.
Not everyone is as fortunate. Last summer, a man was ticketed for sleeping under a staircase at a shopping center in Highland Heights, court records show. It was the second time police were called about the man in a week.
An officer issued him a $25 fine. After fees, the man owed $180.
He didn't pay it. Instead, he eventually served about two days in jail where he accrued jail fine credits. That means for every day he spent in custody, money was credited toward his fines.
On average, it costs about $128 per day to house someone at the Campbell County Jail, a public records request revealed.
After fees and the cost of incarceration, that $25 ticket cost taxpayers at least $410.
"They can't come up with $150. It's an excessive fine for someone who's destitute and has no income," Culhane said.
Culhane added that putting financial burdens on unhoused people further puts them in a cycle of poverty, he said, possibly unable to find a job or housing because of their criminal conviction.
But there are better policies that would help the public and unhoused people, advocates for those experiencing homelessness say.
The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky is the the only facility in the area that offers overnight stays year round to anyone who needs it.
It's based in Covington, has 68 beds, and acts as a general resource hub for people in need.
Last fiscal year, 1,428 of the people who sought services at the shelter were experiencing homelessness for the first time. More than half were able to find a new place to live within two weeks.
Kim Webb, executive director at the ESNKY, said that's because the system in place at the shelter works. It gets people off the streets and living independently.
More resources for emergency shelters and an investment into affordable housing are the two biggest things she said would help transition people into homes.
"Without that, you're going to continue to see a growing unsheltered population," she said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: New law uses 'intimidation' more than tickets to address homelessness
