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Committee advances ban on encampments within 100 feet of K–12 schools; AG raises due-process and property questions
Summary
HB 877, which would prohibit encampments within 100 feet of K–12 school property lines, was advanced with amendments to clarify definitions and to make violations petty misdemeanors; the attorney general requested further language on removal procedures and property handling.
A joint House Human Services and House Health committee on Jan. 30 advanced HB 877, a bill that would prohibit the erection, placement, construction or maintenance of an encampment within 100 feet of a K–12 public or private school or school facility.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources' homeless coordinator Pua Aiu testified in support, telling the committees DLNR conducts about 22 to 24 cleanups per year and that additional authority and funding would allow the department to manage encampments across its statewide holdings. “This bill will allow us to continue cleaning up homeless across the state. We do about 22 to 24 cleanups per year,” Aiu said.
The attorney general cautioned that the draft bill did not specify how immediate removal would occur or what protections there would be for personal property, and recommended clarifying whether the buffer zone applies to public and private property. “First, the bill requires that any person who violates new section 2 a be subject to immediate removal but the bill doesn't specify how the person is to be removed,” the AG's representative told the committees and urged making violations petty misdemeanors to effectuate removal.
Committee members asked whether charter schools fit the K–12 definition; the AG confirmed public charter schools are included under the cited public-school statute. Members also discussed private-property scenarios and whether language should distinguish consent of landowners from squatting; the AG said it would confer with staff to propose specific language.
As amended in committee, the bill now includes pre-K through 12 in the covered schools, clarifies the buffer applies to public or private property, makes a violation a petty misdemeanor, adds a clause specifying how law enforcement shall handle personal property taken into custody, and defects the effective date for further drafting review.
The committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass HB 877 with amendments and included committee notes requesting clearer statutory definitions and property-handling procedures in subsequent drafts.
