Clark County’s camping ban ordinance goes into effect this week on February 1. The new law makes it a misdemeanor to camp, lay down, sleep or store personal property in public places. Anyone in violation of the law can be sentenced to 10 days in jail and receive a fine up to $1,000 if convicted.
Very few people showed up for public comment on Election Day, the day the ordinance passed with a 6-1 vote. But several voices stood out in criticism of the bill.
“Being homeless should not be a crime, and this criminalizes homelessness. … Is this who we really are? Is this who we want to be as a community?” said Scot Rutledge, chairman of Hopelink of Southern Nevada, which provides financial assistance and case management to those living in poverty.
According to the ordinance, the law will not be enforced if there are no available shelter beds and if the individual is having a “mental health medical emergency.” According to county staff, it is intended to direct homeless individuals to services, and “an individual can avoid enforcement by moving from and not returning to the location of the violation.”
Commissioner William McCurdy II, who cast the only dissenting vote, asked to push out the enactment day out of concerns that some social services that the county had approved were not yet ready for clients, and that law enforcement personnel weren’t prepared to enforce the new law.
“I just ask that we take a hard look at what we’re doing and ask ourselves, are we moving too fast? And do we have the pieces in place to ensure that folks are guaranteed placement and our law enforcement partners have the ability … to communicate in real time to determine and assess … referral to the facility? Are they equipped to do that? Do they have the medical expertise to do that? I’m going to say at this juncture that they don’t,” McCurdy said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a request for comment, but officer Matt Kovacich with the LVMPD Behavioral Health Unit told commissioners there are seven members on Metro’s Homeless Outreach Team that will transport individuals “if they want housing and they want the ability to get help.”
“We have social workers embedded in our unit from Clark County that can help bridge that gap so that it’s not everything just falls on law enforcement,” Kovacich said.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who introduced the ordinance, and other commissioners have responded to criticism by pointing to county investments and social services for the homeless population. That population has grown by 55% since 2021, according to data from the Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care, the regional body that plans and coordinates funding for homeless services and housing. A point-in-time census found more than 7,900 individuals experiencing homelessness on one night in January 2024.
“Now, we have services. Before, it was just like ‘You’re on the sidewalk. It’s illegal. If you don’t move, we’re going to arrest you;’ we couldn’t say ‘We have a place for you to go, we have services for you,’” Segerblom told the Weekly, referencing a similar camping ban ordinance that the City of Las Vegas passed in 2019.
“So I think that’s the biggest difference right now. We actually are starting to build the infrastructure so that it’s not quite as cruel. … I’ve seen a lot of just intractable issues where people just don’t want services and don’t want to leave wherever they are, or want to move into the neighborhoods. And frankly, that’s not acceptable.”
The Supreme Court in June 2024 ruled that camping bans didn’t violate the eighth amendment against cruel and unusual punishment, clearing the way for Clark County’s ban and others in Nevada. Since that ruling, the City of Las Vegas has updated its 2019 ban to remove a provision that the ban wouldn’t be enforced if there weren’t any available shelter beds. And in January, the City of Reno expanded the enforceable area for its camping ban from Downtown to all of Reno.
What homeless services exist?
Clark County currently has one navigation center, which can house 70 adults at a time and limits stays up to 30 days, and six non-congregate shelters, which provide short-term temporary housing (individual rooms) totaling 1,688 beds. The county also contracts with organizations that provide emergency shelter and other services. According to a presentation from county staff, the county also provides 2,762 beds through permanent supportive housing programs—long-term housing with supports for individuals who have experienced homelessness for more than 12 months.
“The county has made extraordinary investments in non-congregate shelters and also a navigation center. And so, we have a shelter and facilitated process to bring people in to have some basic assessments, get their IDs and to get them into a pathway toward permanent and stable housing,” Clark County Director of Social Service Jamie Sorenson told the Weekly in a September interview, when Segerblom announced the camping ban ordinance.
Sorenson added that Clark County’s 2024 point-in-time homeless census showed there was a 40% increase in “sheltered” homeless individuals and only a 7% increase in unsheltered individuals since 2023.
“So it shows that our investment is having an impact and leading people toward a pathway,” he said.
Clark County also has made investments in eviction prevention by expanding its rental assistance programs in 2024 to include funding for those who may be facing eviction, but have not yet received an eviction notice, and to assist households experiencing financial hardship.
What’s coming online?
At the November 5 Board of Commissioners meeting, the county approved more than $251 million to develop four additional non-congregate shelters. Those shelters should be open by 2027, according to Sorenson.
Clark County also unanimously approved the investment of $20 million for a 96-bed substance addiction treatment center to provide detox and residential treatment. The county has also partnered with University Medical Center to open a “crisis stabilization center” for those who need immediate behavioral health services. The center is expected to open by February 2025, according to county staff.
Gov. Joe Lombardo in his State of the State address earlier this month announced that the Office of Economic Development has formally approved the Campus for Hope. The 26-acre facility, which will be located on Charleston and Jones Boulevards west of the Las Vegas Medical District, “will provide life-changing resources for those experiencing homelessness,” he said. According to the project’s website, nevadahope.org, the campus will have 900 beds and 300 employees.
The project is based on San Antonio’s Haven for Hope shelter and services center. According to a 2023 report from Haven for Hope, the nonprofit has reduced the prevalence of homelessness in Downtown San Antonio by 77% since they started operating in 2010, and 91% of “Haven graduates” transitioned to stable housing after one year.
Funding for the Campus for Hope is outlined in a bill that passed in the 2023 Legislature and allocated $100 million to a matching fund for development, to be matched by Las Vegas resorts. The legislation provides that the state will provide matching funds of $15 million per year if participating local governments match that $15 million per year, for a total of $30 million for annual operations.
Several Las Vegas resort executives testified in support of the bill. Nevada Resort Association CEO Virginia Valentine said in a statement that the Campus for Hope would be a “comprehensive program for our community’s most vulnerable.”
Clark County on November 5 unanimously approved a shared services agreement between Clark County, the Campus for Hope Foundation (which is slated to oversee development and operate the Campus for Hope) and the participating cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson.
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