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Senate approves omnibus bill creating misdemeanor penalties for camping, panhandling and loitering; adds pathways to services
Summary
The Mississippi Senate passed a committee substitute that creates misdemeanors for certain public camping, aggressive panhandling, loitering and unpermitted solicitation, requires a 48‑hour notice before removal, authorizes prosecutors to seek injunctions to clear encampments and requires evaluation for mental‑health or substance‑use services when arrestees need help.
The Mississippi Senate on a voice vote and later by morning roll call adopted a committee substitute that makes certain public camping, unpermitted solicitation, loitering and aggressive panhandling misdemeanors and gives local prosecutors tools to remove encampments as public nuisances. Supporters said the bill is meant to pair enforcement with referrals to mental‑health and substance‑use services for people who are arrested.
Senator Fillinghain, chairman of the committee that developed the measure, said the substitute collects policy ideas raised in hearings and earlier bills into a single, statewide approach. "This is sort of our best effort to try, in an omnibus sort of way, to try to deal with some of the issues that many of you have raised," he said during floor debate, adding that the measure creates permitting and notice processes and a public‑nuisance avenue for prosecuting attorneys.
The bill makes it unlawful to set…
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