Florida HB 437: Prohibitions, Designated Sites, and Enforcement

Florida House Bill 1365 makes it illegal for any county or city in the state to allow people to regularly camp or sleep on public property. The law took effect on October 1, 2024, was codified as Section 125.0231 of the Florida Statutes, and puts the enforcement pressure primarily on local governments rather than on individuals sleeping outside.¹ Counties that want an alternative to strict prohibition can open temporary, state-certified camping sites, but the requirements are demanding and the sites cannot operate for more than one year at a stretch.

What the Law Prohibits

No county or municipality may authorize or otherwise allow any person to regularly camp or sleep on public property. That covers sidewalks, streets, rights-of-way, the grounds around public buildings, and any other land under local government jurisdiction.¹ The word “regularly” carries weight. Someone dozing on a park bench once is not the target. The prohibition is aimed at ongoing or repeated overnight use of public land as living space.

The statute defines public camping or sleeping as lodging or residing outdoors overnight, whether in a tent, under a makeshift shelter, or in the open with no cover. Bedding, pillows, and stored personal belongings can serve as evidence of overnight habitation.

What Isn’t Covered

Two situations are carved out of the ban:

Sleeping overnight in a motor vehicle that is registered, insured, and lawfully parked is not prohibited by Section 125.0231. Local parking ordinances still apply, so overnight parking restrictions on a particular street or lot can still create problems.¹
Camping on property specifically designated for recreational camping is also exempt.

Enforcement Against Individuals

Before issuing a citation, imposing a fine, or taking any other enforcement action against an individual, the local government must first offer available shelter or a temporary accommodation.² Someone who refuses the offer can then face whatever penalties the local government has adopted by ordinance. Those specific penalties vary from one jurisdiction to the next; HB 1365 leaves that piece to local discretion.

The statute is silent on how personal property must be handled during an encampment clearing. It sets no storage period, no notice requirement, and no disposal rules. Federal constitutional protections continue to apply in that gap. Courts have held under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments that belongings left at a campsite are not legally abandoned simply because the owner stepped away, and that destroying property without reasonable notice can violate due process. A local government conducting sweeps without a property protocol risks federal civil rights liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.³

How Local Governments Can Be Sued

The sharpest feature of HB 1365 is aimed at cities and counties, not at people sleeping outside. If a local government allows unauthorized public camping to persist, it can be taken to court.

As of January 1, 2025, any resident, any local business owner, or the Florida Attorney General may file a civil action to force a non-compliant local government to stop allowing unlawful camping on public land.⁴ Before suing, the plaintiff must give the county or municipality written notice documenting the violation. The local government then has five business days to correct the problem. If it doesn’t, the plaintiff can proceed and must submit an affidavit confirming the notice and the government’s failure to act.

A plaintiff who prevails can recover reasonable expenses, including court costs and attorney fees.⁴ Fee-shifting lowers the financial risk for residents and business owners who want to force enforcement, and it raises the cost for any city council that would rather not confront an encampment.

Designated Camping Sites

A county that wants a legal alternative to strict prohibition can create a temporary, sanctioned site where camping may occur. The path is narrow and involves state oversight most county commissions have not dealt with before.

Approval and State Certification

The county’s governing body must approve the designation by majority vote. If the site sits inside a municipality, that municipality’s governing body must also concur by majority vote.¹ No site may be used until the Department of Children and Families certifies it. To obtain certification, the county must show:

Existing homeless shelters lack enough open beds for the county’s homeless population.
The proposed property is not next to land designated for residential use in the county’s comprehensive plan and future land use map.
The site will not materially harm the property values or safety of nearby residential or commercial properties and will not endanger the safety of children.
The county has a plan to meet the ongoing operational requirements.

Once DCF receives a complete application, it has 45 days to act. If it does nothing within that window, the designation is automatically deemed certified.¹

Operating Standards

A certified site must meet minimum standards in four areas:

Safety and security for the property and the people staying there.
Sanitation, including access to clean, working restrooms and running water.²
Coordination with the regional managing entity to connect residents with substance abuse and mental health treatment.
A prohibition on illegal drug use and alcohol use on the property, which the county must actively enforce.

Within 30 days of DCF certification, the county must publish these standards on its public website. If the site lies within a municipality, that city’s website must also post them. The policies must stay publicly available for as long as any designated property is in use.¹

The One-Year Cap

A designated site cannot operate for a continuous period longer than one year.¹ The statute frames these sites as transitional. Whether a county could close a site, wait some period, and then redesignate the same property is a question the statute does not directly answer.

Fiscally Constrained Counties

A fiscally constrained county is exempt from the safety, sanitation, and behavioral health coordination requirements if its governing board finds that compliance would cause financial hardship.¹ The drug and alcohol prohibition still applies regardless of fiscal status.

ADA Compliance at Designated Sites

HB 1365 does not mention the Americans with Disabilities Act, but Title II applies to any government program, including a public camping site. Facilities must be accessible to people who use wheelchairs or have other mobility limitations, and the program must not exclude people with disabilities. Department of Justice guidance covers parking, walkways, entrances, restrooms, sleeping areas, food distribution, and emergency notification.⁵ A designated site that fails accessibility standards creates liability separate from the camping statute.

Effective Dates

The rollout came in two phases. Most provisions of HB 1365 took effect on October 1, 2024, including the statewide ban, the designated-site framework, and the requirement that local governments begin enforcement.¹ The civil lawsuit provision started on January 1, 2025, giving counties and cities a three-month window to come into compliance before residents and business owners could sue.⁴ Both dates have passed, and every provision of the law is now fully in effect.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 125.0231 – Public Camping and Public Sleeping
2
Florida Senate. CS/CS/HB 1365 – Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1983 – Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights
4
Florida Senate. CS/CS/HB 1365 – Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping
5
ADA.gov. ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments, Chapter 7 Addendum 2 – The ADA and Emergency Shelters