SF4980

Purpose

This bill would create a statewide rule about how homeless individuals may use public land. It aims to reduce penalties for certain activities on public land, provide a legal defense in criminal cases, and allow civil action if someone is treated unfairly. It also sets up standards for an “adequate alternative indoor space,” and it would preempt local ordinances that conflict with these rules.

Key terms and definitions

• Adequate alternative indoor space: A space that a homeless person can legally and physically access, without sacrificing rights under federal/state/local law, available indefinitely at no cost, and without needing daily reapplication. It may include a tiny home or similar structure if it has locking doors, climate control, and sanitary/cooking facilities, or is part of a community with shared facilities; or a permitted parking area with sanitary facilities.
• Lifesustaining activity: Activities needed to survive, such as moving, resting, sitting, standing, lying down, sleeping, eating, drinking, and protecting oneself and belongings from the elements.
• Public land: Any land owned or leased by state or local government, or land with a public use easement, open to the public (e.g., plazas, parking lots, sidewalks, parks, transit facilities, and adjacent lands).
• Homeless individual: The person defined in section 116L.361 subdivision 5.
• Public accommodation: Places described in Minnesota law where the public can access (e.g., certain services and facilities).
• Motor vehicle and Recreational vehicle: As defined in state statutes.

What this bill would prohibit (penalties and enforcement)

• A municipality cannot impose penalties on a homeless person for using public land in the ways described in the bill.
• Enforcement could include civil remedies if a violation occurs, with the attorney general able to investigate and prosecute violations.

What a homeless person may do on public land (eligibility and allowances)

• May conduct lifesustaining activities on public land unless an adequate indoor space is available.
• May move freely and use places of public accommodation.
• May solicit, share, accept, or offer food, water, or other donations.
• May store possessions and maintain privacy in personal property, similar to what is allowed in a private dwelling, without unreasonable searches or seizures.
• May pray, meditate, worship, or practice religion.
• May occupy a motor vehicle or a recreational vehicle that is lawfully parked.
• May relocate a vehicle being used for a lifesustaining activity before a citation or towing, and may retrieve items from a towed vehicle, or retrieve a vehicle from storage at a free or reduced rate if they can pay.

Protections, remedies, and enforcement mechanisms

• The attorney general would have authority to investigate and prosecute violations.
• A person harmed by a violation could sue in district court for damages, costs, and other relief, including injunctive relief. A prevailing plaintiff could be awarded attorney’s fees and other appropriate relief; the bill specifies nonfrivolous actions should not impose costs or attorney fees on the plaintiff.

Local government impact and preemption

• This law would preempt and supersede inconsistent local ordinances, regulations, or rules.

Construction and rights protections

• The bill does not authorize interfering with a homeless person’s rights to be free from discrimination based on housing status.
• It does not allow punishment that violates constitutional rights or displace other remedies for breaches of those rights.

Significance and potential impact

• Creates a statewide standard for how homeless individuals may use public land and access lifesustaining activities, while encouraging or requiring access to adequate indoor space when available.
• Shifts some enforcement from local to state oversight (via the attorney general and civil remedies) and tightens local control by preemption.
• Aims to reduce criminal penalties for homeless individuals in relation to public-land use and to provide legal avenues for redress if those rights are restricted.

Relevant Terms homeless individuals public land lifesustaining activity adequate alternative indoor space public accommodation motor vehicle recreational vehicle civil remedies aff irmative defense attorney general preemption discrimination based on housing status unreasonable search and seizure injunctive relief damages costs and disbursements nonfrivolous action