Homeless encampments are not outright illegal in California under any single statute, but state and local authorities have broad power to clear them and to cite or arrest occupants under a mix of camping, lodging, trespass, and public nuisance laws. That power expanded sharply in 2024. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, cities no longer have to prove shelter beds are available before enforcing anti-camping rules, and California’s governor followed with an executive order directing state agencies to begin clearing encampments on state property.
How the Grants Pass Ruling Changed Enforcement
For nearly six years, the Ninth Circuit’s 2018 ruling in Martin v. City of Boise limited encampment enforcement across the western United States. That decision held that punishing people for sleeping outdoors on public property, when no alternative shelter was available, violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.1United States Courts. Martin v. City of Boise California cities routinely pointed to Martin as the reason they could not clear encampments without first showing enough shelter beds existed for every displaced person.
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court reversed course. In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, a 6-3 majority held that enforcing generally applicable public-camping ordinances is not cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, even when homeless individuals have no indoor alternative.2Supreme Court of the United States. City of Grants Pass v. Johnson The ruling effectively overrode Martin and removed the requirement that cities demonstrate adequate shelter capacity before enforcing camping bans.
The Governor’s Executive Order on State Land
Less than a month after Grants Pass, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-1-24 on July 25, 2024. It directs state agencies to adopt policies for removing encampments on state-owned land, including Caltrans property along highways and state parks. The order does not criminalize camping. It sets a standardized process.3Office of the Governor of California. Executive Order N-1-24
Under the order, state agencies must:
- Assess, whenever feasible, whether an encampment poses an imminent threat to life, health, safety, or infrastructure.
- Post a written notice to vacate at least 48 hours before any non-emergency removal.
- Provide as much advance notice as is reasonable under exigent circumstances.
- Contact service providers to offer outreach to people at the site.
- Label and store personal belongings that are not health or safety hazards for at least 60 days.
The order applies only to state-owned property. Cities and counties set their own procedures for local public property, though many have adopted similar notice timelines.
State Laws Used to Enforce Against Encampments
California has no single statute declaring encampments illegal. Enforcement pulls from several overlapping codes.
Lodging Without Permission
Penal Code 647(e) makes it a misdemeanor to lodge in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person in control of the property.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 647 – Disorderly Conduct This provision is one of the most commonly cited state-level tools in encampment enforcement, and with the Eighth Amendment barrier gone, it is more enforceable than it has been in years.
Trespassing
Penal Code 602 classifies most trespassing as a misdemeanor, covering anyone who enters or remains on property without the consent of the owner or person in lawful possession.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 602 – Trespass Government buildings, freeway underpasses, transit facilities, and areas posted as no-camping zones all fall within it. Officers usually issue warnings first, but repeat violations escalate to citations or custodial arrests. For trespass at transit facilities, fines for a first offense can reach $100, with repeat offenses carrying up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.
Sidewalk Obstruction
The California Streets and Highways Code requires property owners to maintain adjacent sidewalks in a condition that does not endanger people or interfere with public use.6California Legislative Information. California Streets and Highways Code 5610-5618 Cities cite these provisions when tents or belongings block pedestrian passage, treating the encampment as a public obstruction regardless of the occupants’ housing status.
Public Nuisance and Health Hazards
Local governments can act when encampments create environmental or health risks. Encampments near waterways, those lacking sanitation, or those accumulating biohazardous waste can be classified as public nuisances. The state’s 2025 model ordinance identifies items treated as health hazards during enforcement, including needles, knives, and chemical substances like bleach or paint, which agencies can remove immediately without storing.7Office of the Governor of California. Model Ordinance – Addressing Encampments with Urgency and Dignity Fire hazards and drug paraphernalia also accelerate enforcement timelines.
How Cities Enforce Their Own Rules
Most encampment enforcement happens at the city level, and the details vary widely.
Buffer Zones Around Sensitive Sites
Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18 prohibits sitting, sleeping, lying, or storing personal property within 500 feet of schools and day care centers, with no City Council resolution required. For other sensitive locations like public parks, libraries, freeway underpasses, and bridges, the City Council must pass a resolution activating the restriction, and signage must be posted at least 14 days before enforcement begins.8American Legal Publishing. Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18 The ordinance also creates a 1,000-foot buffer around homeless shelters and navigation centers opened after January 2018. San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento have adopted similar zone-based approaches with different distances and triggers.
What a Sweep Looks Like
Enforcement typically follows a sequence: posted warnings, an outreach period when social workers offer shelter placements, and then a coordinated removal involving sanitation crews, police, and sometimes nonprofit outreach teams. The 2025 state model ordinance recommends a minimum 48-hour written notice before any non-emergency action.7Office of the Governor of California. Model Ordinance – Addressing Encampments with Urgency and Dignity Whether outreach offers actually result in a shelter placement depends on bed availability and whether the individual accepts services.
Your Property Rights During a Sweep
This is where encampment residents still have real, enforceable protections. Grants Pass addressed whether cities can ban camping. It did not touch the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment protections that limit how cities seize and dispose of personal belongings.
In Lavan v. City of Los Angeles (2012), the Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction barring Los Angeles from confiscating and summarily destroying unabandoned property in Skid Row. The court held that the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments protect homeless individuals from government seizure and destruction of personal property, even when that property is temporarily unattended. The injunction required the city to store seized property in a secure location for at least 90 days before destroying it.9United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Lavan v. City of Los Angeles
In Garcia v. City of Los Angeles, the Ninth Circuit in 2021 affirmed a preliminary injunction preventing the city from discarding homeless individuals’ bulky items stored in public areas, finding the practice likely violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable seizures.10United States Courts. Garcia v. City of Los Angeles
The practical effect: even when a city has full authority to clear an encampment, it generally cannot throw away belongings on the spot. Most California municipalities now follow protocols requiring advance written notice and a storage period, though the specifics vary. Under Executive Order N-1-24, the minimum storage period for state-managed removals is 60 days.3Office of the Governor of California. Executive Order N-1-24 If a sweep destroys unabandoned belongings without notice or storage, that conduct may itself be unconstitutional, regardless of the legality of the removal.
Penalties and Downstream Consequences
Penalties depend on the law being enforced. Lodging without permission under Penal Code 647(e) is a misdemeanor.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 647 – Disorderly Conduct General trespassing under Penal Code 602 is also a misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in county jail and fines ranging from $100 for a first offense at a transit facility to $1,000 or more for repeat violations.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 602 – Trespass Local anti-camping ordinances typically start with fines, and some cities treat first-time violations as infractions before escalating to misdemeanor charges on repeat offenses.
The downstream consequences often matter more than the formal penalty. Unpaid fines lead to warrants. Warrants complicate background checks for housing and employment. A misdemeanor conviction creates a criminal record that compounds the barriers to escaping homelessness.
Sanctioned Sites and Safe Parking
Some California cities have created legal alternatives to unsanctioned encampments. These programs don’t change the illegality of camping in unauthorized locations, but they give people a place to be without risking citations.
San Francisco has experimented with sanctioned tent sites offering sanitation and security. Los Angeles has designated certain areas for temporary shelter with reduced enforcement in exchange for occupancy and sanitation compliance. Safe parking programs, which give people living in vehicles a legal overnight location with access to services, have expanded across the state. Sunnyvale adopted a safe parking ordinance in late 2024 that establishes a permitting process for operators to run overnight vehicle programs on private lots.
Participants must register and follow site rules, and these programs are not available in every city. Where they exist, capacity tends to be small relative to the need. A sanctioned site with 50 spots in a city with thousands of unsheltered residents does not remove the enforcement pressure on everyone who cannot get in.