House Judiciary advances changes to public‑camping, unsafe‑building and dumping rules in SB197

The Indiana House Judiciary Committee on April 7 voted 7‑3 to pass Senate Bill 197 after adopting a series of amendments that add new rules on camping on public property, shorten notice periods for unsafe buildings and create a class C misdemeanor for certain dumping and camping violations.

Representative Alex Meltzer, sponsor of several changes, described amendment 6 as a package about “the use of public lands.” He said the amendment sends language to the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) to pursue a Medicaid waiver for the Healthy Indiana Plan and creates an enforcement structure for camping on public rights‑of‑way and parks. “If you are in the public right of way, you'll have 24 hours to move. If you're in the park, you'll have 72 hours to move,” Representative Meltzer said. He added that, after outreach and offers of shelter or mental‑health services and a crisis hotline contact, refusal to accept those services would be a class C misdemeanor and the individual could be referred to a problem‑solving court.

The committee approved that amendment by roll call, 7‑3.

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