Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness Encampments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City attorney: County, not cities, control certified encampments under House Bill 1365; municipalities face liability if they allow overnight camping
Summary
City officials in Cocoa discussed the scope and legal risks of House Bill 13‑65, which requires county certification for public camping sites and makes municipalities potentially liable if public camping or sleeping occurs without county/D CF oversight.
City Attorney Esquire Pike told Cocoa City Council that House Bill 13‑65 gives counties—not individual municipalities—the authority to designate and certify public camping or sleeping sites and sets conditions cities cannot independently waive.
The county "must designate public property that gets certified through DCF and meets specific criteria," City Manager said as he summarized the new law and why cities in Brevard County are limited in what they can do locally. The law’s certification criteria include cleanliness, safety and access to behavioral health services, he added.
Mississippi? No. The City Attorney expanded on the liability question during council discussion: "The bill makes clear that municipalities can be held liable for allowing public camping and sleeping to occur regardless of whether the county has created a place for public camping and sleeping," she said, warning that litigation and attorney fees could follow if a court finds a city is permitting overnight camping.
Commander Marquika and Police Department staff described current local enforcement: officers make twice‑night patrols of parks, issue trespass warnings to people found sleeping and arrest if warnings are ignored. The police department said it will continue park patrols and that enforcement tools in Cocoa’s code (for example, restrictions on impeding sidewalks or trespass) are being used while staff consider ordinance revisions.
Council members asked staff to research liability and operational impacts and requested drafts of ordinance language that would give police clearer enforcement tools for overnight camping or sleeping should council decide to expand local rules.
City staff said they will return with recommendations to revise Cocoa’s ordinances if council wants, noting any municipal ordinance would still sit within the bill’s framework and likely require county and DCF coordination for certified encampments.
