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AB-257 Encampments: penalties.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 01/03/2024 02:00 PM
AB257:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  January 03, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  February 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 257

Introduced by Assembly Member Hoover
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Flora, Gallagher, and Sanchez)

January 19, 2023

An act to add Section 647.10 to the Penal Code, 1726 to the Civil Code, relating to public safety. encampments.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 257, as amended, Hoover. Encampments: penalties.
Under existing law, a person who lodges in a public or private place without permission is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Existing law also provides that a person who willfully and maliciously obstructs the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would prohibit a person from camping, as defined, in a street, sidewalk, or other public property within 500 feet of a school, daycare center, playground, or youth center. The bill would make a violation of the prohibition an infraction or a misdemeanor. By imposing criminal penalties for a violation of these provisions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. school. The bill would authorize a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney to bring an action for a violation of this prohibition. The bill would make a person who violates this prohibition liable for a civil fine of not more than $10 in an action brought by the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county where the violation occurred.

Existing law establishes procedures of diversion for specified defendants through which the court is authorized to grant pretrial diversion which, contingent on successful completion of specified terms and conditions imposed by the court, results in the dismissal of charges prior to adjudication.

This bill would authorize a defendant who is being prosecuted for a misdemeanor for camping in a street, sidewalk, or other public property within 500 feet of a school, daycare center, playground, or youth center to be eligible for a diversion program, including, but not limited to, the Diversion of Individuals with Mental Disorders and the Court Initiated Misdemeanor Diversion, as specified.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YESNO   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.Section 647.10 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
647.10.

SECTION 1.

 Section 1726 is added to the Civil Code, to read:

1726.
 (a) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Camp” means to engage in one of the following activities at a single camping area for a period longer than six consecutive hours:
(A) Place, pitch, or occupy an encampment.
(B) Live temporarily in a camp facility, camping area, or outdoors.
(C) Use camp paraphernalia.
(2) “Camp facility” includes, but is not limited to, tents, huts, vehicles, or temporary shelter.
(3) “Camp paraphernalia” includes, but is not limited to, bedrolls, tarpaulins, cots, beds, sleeping bags, hammocks, or cooking facilities and similar equipment.
(4) “Camping area” includes the primary physical area of occupation of a single camping person.
(5) “Encampment” means three or more persons camping together within 50 feet of each other and without permitted electrical power, permitted running water, or permitted bathroom facilities that serve that encampment.

(6)“Youth center” has the same meaning as the term is defined in Section 11353.1 of the Health and Safety Code.

(b) A person shall not camp in a street, sidewalk, or other public property within 500 feet of a school, daycare center, playground, or youth center. school.

(c)(1)A person who violates subdivision (b) shall be guilty of an infraction or a misdemeanor.

(2)An infraction violation of subdivision (b) shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed ten dollars ($10).

(3)A misdemeanor violation of subdivision (b) shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than five days in a county jail, by a fine not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

(d)A defendant who is being prosecuted for a misdemeanor pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) may be eligible for a diversion program, including, but not limited to, the Diversion of Individuals with Mental Disorders (Chapter 2.8A (commencing with Section 1001.35) of Title 6 of Part 2) and the Court Initiated Misdemeanor Diversion (Chapter 2.96 (commencing with Section 1001.95) of Title 6 of Part 2).

(c) (1) A city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney may bring an action against a person who violates subdivision (b).
(2) A person who violates subdivision (b) shall be liable for a civil fine of not more than ten dollars ($10) in an action brought by the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county where the violation occurred.

SEC. 2.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.