Duluth proposes criminal penalty for homeless encampments

DULUTH — Officials here are poised to ratchet up the city’s response to homeless and other types of encampments, with a proposal to make sleeping on city property a misdemeanor crime.

Mayor Roger Reinert and other city leaders announced 10 proposed ordinance changes Tuesday that will soon go before the City Council, each addressing offenses, including burning, graffiti and property damage, cited as the biggest complaint drivers in the city.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled late last month that fining or jailing people for breaking anti-camping ordinances when there is no shelter available does not violate the Constitution. The decision gives local governments the license to cite and possibly arrest people in homeless encampments or other public spaces.

Reinert said citations aren’t as effective as misdemeanor charges in dealing with certain crimes. Misdemeanors offer alternatives to a fine, such as diversionary and restitution-type programs in lieu of jail time and a marred record. Those programs can help channel those experiencing homelessness to resources, he said.

The Sixth Judicial Court in Duluth recently began a specialty court that hears misdemeanor charges in an effort to stabilize those committing lower-level crimes.

“We want to hold people accountable for their choices and their behaviors, but we in Duluth prioritize connection and diversion,” Reinert said.

He also said residents expect the fire and police departments to do their jobs, which includes enforcement. He doesn’t see the camping ordinance as criminalization of those without homes, he said.

While the city expects to educate and “encourage” before turning to enforcement, a misdemeanor can mean a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail, although either is rare at that level. Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said the department is set up to offer rides to court hearings for those without transportation.

The idea isn’t to be punitive, said Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj, and the ordinance wouldn’t be enforced if there isn’t shelter space. The city, with a chronic shortage of shelter beds, has a host of projects underway aiming to reduce the number of people sleeping outdoors.

The process for handling encampments would remain the same — visiting them with outreach workers and the city’s crisis response team “to find solutions to what’s going on in their lives,” Krizaj said, and encouraging them to “go somewhere else.”

John Cole, the director of Chum, a nonprofit food shelf and emergency shelter in Duluth, said he hadn’t been consulted on the ordinance change and had no comment until he learned more.

Keitin Schmitz is among the roughly 20 people sleeping overnight outside Duluth City Hall, many for more than two months. A group assembled shortly after the City Council voted against an Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution. The number of tents has grown to more than a dozen, and Schmitz said protesters have no plans to move until the city divests from any ties to Israel, among other demands.

A camping ordinance would criminalize homelessness, Schmitz said, in a city that already struggles to support those experiencing it.

As for the camp, those not willing to deal with an arrest or ticket will disperse when people are warned, he said, but otherwise, “we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Police have given warnings but not fined anyone from the City Hall encampment, organizers said.