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Bill to let counties regulate activities on navigable rivers draws sharp debate over access and homelessness
Summary
House Bill 24-95 would authorize counties to regulate activities (camping, vehicle operation, disposal) on named navigable rivers and dry channels and expand the criminal trespass statute; proponents said counties need local authority to address dumping and encampments, while conservation groups and homelessness service providers warned it could criminalize homelessness and create a patchwork of restrictions; no vote was taken.
The Committee on Local Government heard extensive testimony on House Bill 24-95, which would authorize counties to regulate activities on navigable waters (the Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri rivers and their dry channels), and would expand the criminal trespass statute referenced in testimony as 21-5808 to include those waters.
The Revisor advised the committee that the bill as drafted places the new language in an incorrect statute and recommended creating a new authorizing statute for counties rather than amending a prohibitory statute. The Revisor also clarified the bill is authorizing (may), not mandatory (shall), language for counties.
Representative Bob Lewis, a…
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