Wyandotte County lawmakers are poised to pass an ordinance that advocates say would effectively criminalize homelessness by making it illegal to sleep outside without a permit.
The Board of Commissioners of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, could vote on the measure as early as this Thursday, Oct. 2, where it's listed on the published agenda.
People found sleeping or camping outside without a temporary permit from the Unified Government could face citations of up to $200 and jail stays of up to a month.
The ordinance states that “the purpose of this chapter is to maintain streets, parks and other public property and areas within the city in a clean, sanitary and accessible condition to adequately protect the health, safety and public welfare of the community.”
It cites bodily fluids, pests and trash found on camping sites as immediate threats to the health and public safety of residents.
Limited housing options
The Unified Government’s Public Safety Works Committee voted to advance the proposal on Sept. 22. Commissioners Tom Burroughs, Phil Lopez, Mike Kane and Bill Burns did not respond to KCUR’s requests for comments.
If the ordinance passes its final vote Thursday, advocacy groups around Kansas City, Kansas, worry about a lack of other options for unhoused residents. Wyandotte County does not have a permanent overnight shelter, and there does not seem to be current plans to create one.
Susila Jones, executive director of the nonprofit Cross-Lines Community Outreach, says her organization has waiting lists full of people looking for housing, who will become even more vulnerable.
“It's the worst feeling as a service provider when you're telling someone who wants a safe place to be that there's nowhere to go,” Jones said. “It’s really difficult already and this will make it even more difficult.”
Jones wants to see lawmakers focus on expanding permanent housing opportunities in order to combat homelessness, “rather than try[ing] to shuffle it under the rug.”
Another concern is about enforcement. Community members say that Wyandotte County law enforcement should be focused on stopping crime, rather than issuing citations to people who sleep outdoors.
And Jones adds that increased interactions with law enforcement could worsen conditions for unhoused people -- who would find it difficult to get to court and pay fines.
Similar policies across the U.S.
Wyandotte County’s ordinance follows similar policies targeting homelessness across the country.
Missouri’s legislature passed a law three years ago that made sleeping on state-owned property a Class C misdemeanor. The Missouri Supreme Court later struck down the law for violating the constitution’s single-subject rule.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling allowing cities to ban camping in public, more than 100 places across the country introduced anti-homeless legislation.
“Homelessness is not a moral failure, and for people that are experiencing homelessness to be criminalized because they have no safe place to go is, in my opinion, unlawful,” said Ondra Penn, facility manager for the Wilhelmina Gill Multi-Service Center in Wyandotte County.
The Willa Gill Center provides clothing, personal hygiene kits, telephone access, mail pick-up and long-term case management services to unhoused residents.
Penn emphasized the need for not only an overnight shelter in Wyandotte County, but also more facilities with wraparound services to assist people dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Tom Lally, CEO and president of Hillcrest Transitional Housing, urged Wyandotte County leaders to pause and work instead on community-oriented solutions, rather than “going from point A to point B at 100 miles an hour.”
He says this ordinance may lessen visible homelessness only by forcing people to move to other parts of the metro without proper resources.
“Let’s get them the needed services that they desire and they require, and get them on the right path,” said Lally. “We don't need to put them in jail.”
