Beginning January 1st, homeless populations will be seeing a shift that could lead to a lot of criminal infractions in the coming days.
This law will see that individuals who sleep, camp, or set up any kind of long-term shelter on state-owned land, could receive up to a Class C misdemeanor criminal charge. In addition, this also would punish entities that don’t comply, as it will allow the Missouri Attorney General to sue them for lack of compliance.
Organizations that don’t follow along with this new law and ban could lose state and federal funding for efforts on housing and projects pertaining to homelessness. Moreover, this law will also require Cities and Counties to enforce these new bans.
Lastly, this law will also limit funding from federal and state levels for affordable housing construction, instead funneling it into temporary camps, intended to assist in mental health and substance abuse recovery.
This law is a part of House Bill 1606, which you can read more about by clicking here.
