California vagrancy laws no longer exist as a single statute criminalizing homelessness itself. Instead, Penal Code Section 647 defines a set of “disorderly conduct” misdemeanors, and cities layer their own anti-camping ordinances on top. Together, these rules target behaviors like sleeping outdoors, begging, public intoxication, and lodging without permission, and they carry up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
What Penal Code 647 Covers
The state’s main tool for enforcement against people living on the street is Penal Code Section 647. The statute focuses on conduct rather than status, but several of its subdivisions reach directly into the daily realities of being unhoused:
- Begging or soliciting alms — approaching someone in a public place to ask for money or charity.
- Lodging without permission — staying in any building, vehicle, or place without the owner’s consent.
- Public intoxication — being in a public place under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the point of being unable to care for your own safety, or blocking a sidewalk or street.
- Trespassing — lingering on someone else’s property without a lawful reason and with the intent to commit a crime if the opportunity arises.
Each is a misdemeanor.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 647 – Disorderly Conduct The statute’s language targets what you do, not who you are, but the overlap is heavy. Sleeping in a doorway, sitting on the sidewalk while intoxicated, or sheltering in a parked car can all draw a citation under one of these subdivisions.
Penalties and What a Conviction Does to Your Record
A standard misdemeanor in California carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 19 – Punishment for Misdemeanor Courts can also impose probation or community service. For someone with no stable income, even a small fine becomes a debt that grows with penalties and collection fees. A short stay in jail can wipe out whatever arrangements a person had for storing belongings, receiving mail, or keeping in touch with service providers.
The record is often the heavier consequence. A misdemeanor conviction appears on background checks and can block access to jobs, rental housing, and some public benefits. That is how enforcement of these laws tends to deepen the underlying problem: a person loses housing, gets cited for sleeping outdoors, picks up a conviction, and then finds the record itself standing between them and the housing or job that would have ended the cycle.
Local Anti-Camping Ordinances
Beyond state law, almost every California city has its own set of rules. Local anti-camping ordinances typically prohibit setting up tents, sleeping bags, or bedding in public spaces for the purpose of living. Many add bans on sitting or lying in doorways at night, blocking sidewalks with personal property, or staying in parks after closing hours.
Enforcement looks very different depending on where you are. Some cities lead with outreach, offering shelter or services before issuing citations. Others move straight to enforcement. Penalties usually start with warnings or infractions and escalate to misdemeanors for repeat violations, which can include criminal trespass. A person can be in compliance on one block and in violation on the next.
These local rules stack on top of Penal Code 647. The same encounter can produce a state citation for lodging without permission and a city citation for having a sleeping bag on a sidewalk, each carrying its own fine and record.
Your Rights During an Encampment Removal
Executive Order N-1-24, signed by Governor Newsom on July 25, 2024, directs state agencies clearing encampments on state property to follow specific procedures.3Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Executive Order N-1-24 Before any removal, agencies are supposed to assess whether the site poses an immediate threat to life, health, safety, or infrastructure. When there is no emergency, they must post a written notice to vacate at least 48 hours in advance. In an emergency, they must give as much notice as circumstances allow.
The order also requires state agencies to contact service providers so outreach can be offered before the sweep, and to collect, label, and store personal belongings that are not hazards for at least 60 days.4Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Newsom Orders State Agencies to Address Encampments in Their Communities With Urgency and Dignity The 60-day storage rule is meant to protect identification documents, medication, and irreplaceable items. The limit worth knowing: the executive order binds state agencies and the local governments that voluntarily adopt matching policies. Cities are not required by statewide statute to follow the same rules, and practices vary.
The Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies to your belongings whether they are inside a home or on a sidewalk.5Constitution Annotated. Property Subject to Seizure When property is destroyed rather than stored during a sweep, that protection is the basis for a legal claim. Losing an ID card alone can block entry to shelters that require identification, delay benefits, and set job applications back by weeks.
Clearing a Citation or Conviction
If you have completed probation on a misdemeanor and are not currently serving a sentence, on probation, or facing new charges, you can petition the court under Penal Code Section 1203.4 to set aside the guilty verdict and dismiss the case.6California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.4 – Dismissal of Accusation or Information An unpaid restitution order is not grounds for denying the petition.
A dismissal releases you from most penalties tied to the conviction, but it has real limits. You still have to disclose the conviction when applying for public office or a state license. It does not restore firearm rights. And the prior conviction can still be used against you in any future prosecution. For background checks run by landlords and most private employers, though, a dismissed conviction is far less damaging than an active one.
Some counties also run Homeless Court programs. These allow people experiencing homelessness to resolve outstanding misdemeanors and infractions based on progress in treatment, job training, or other services. Participation usually requires a referral from a homeless-service agency. The courts accept a range of misdemeanors and infractions but typically exclude domestic violence cases and felonies. For someone who has collected multiple low-level citations, a single Homeless Court session can clear them.
What the Grants Pass Decision Changed
For years, the strongest protection for homeless Californians came from a Ninth Circuit case, Martin v. City of Boise (2018). It held that a city cannot prosecute homeless people for sleeping outdoors on public property when there are more homeless people than available shelter beds, because punishing someone for sleeping outside with no indoor option amounts to punishing them for being homeless in violation of the Eighth Amendment.7U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Martin v. City of Boise, 902 F.3d 1031
That shield is gone. On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson that enforcing generally applicable anti-camping laws does not violate the Eighth Amendment, even against people with no access to shelter.8Supreme Court of the United States. City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 603 U.S. 520 (2024) The majority drew a line between punishing status (being homeless) and punishing conduct (camping on public property), classifying anti-camping ordinances as regulation of conduct.
The practical consequence for California: cities that had held back enforcement because of the Martin shelter-bed requirement are now free to cite and arrest people sleeping outdoors regardless of whether a shelter bed exists. The “no beds available” argument that once stopped a prosecution no longer works in federal court. Whatever remaining limits on enforcement exist come from state law, local policy, and procedural rules like those in Executive Order N-1-24, not from the Eighth Amendment.