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Evansville council member condemns state bill criminalizing homelessness, urges local investment in housing and services
Summary
A council member used Monday’s meeting to criticize the state legislature’s approval of SB 197, calling the move a criminalization of homelessness and urging Evansville to prioritize housing, shelter and supportive services rather than incarceration.
A member of the Evansville Common Council on Monday strongly criticized the state legislature’s passage of SB 197 — described at the meeting as a criminalization of homelessness — and urged the city to pursue investments in housing, shelter capacity and supportive services instead of punitive measures.
The council member said the bill had been approved in the state House by a 52–40 vote and described the outcome as a “travesty,” arguing that incarceration is costlier and less effective than housing and service models. The speaker told the council that local agencies and the city already manage a high number of unhoused and high‑needs individuals on any given night and described recent shelter system data illustrating turnover and replacement of people in the system.
Why it matters: The speaker framed the vote as an urgent local policy concern because a state law that criminalizes homelessness would affect how local law enforcement, service providers and municipalities respond to people without housing. Council members and speakers urged the city to accelerate investments in affordable housing, to expand shelter and to strengthen diversion and housing‑first strategies.
What the council member said
- The council member referenced SB 197 and said a similar measure (HB 1662) had previously failed. They said SB 197 advanced in the legislature with a 52–40 vote in the House and warned the city must act locally to avoid criminalizing poverty.
- The speaker described local counts and shelter system data: “on any given night we have more than 500 individuals either in our shelter system or on the street,” and said the emergency shelter system recorded roughly 2,000 unique individuals in 2023 with high turnover; about 1,500 resolved in 2024 but were replaced by 1,500 different individuals, a pattern the speaker said demonstrates the limits of punitive approaches.
- The council member urged the city to invest in housing, to expand shelter capacity and mental‑health services and to coordinate with local service providers rather than rely on incarceration as a response.
Council response and context
Council members thanked the speaker for the remarks and said they would continue discussions on local options. The speaker referenced an upcoming expansion of local jail capacity and argued that expansion will be filled quickly if policy relies on incarceration rather than housing and supportive services.
No formal council action was taken at the meeting on homelessness policy or local funding; the remarks were recorded as a council member statement and a call for future work.
Who spoke (selected): Council member (unnamed in the public audio) delivered the statement; council members acknowledged the comments but did not vote on a related motion.
