Auburn floats stricter ban on homelessness

Auburn considers stricter homeless camping ban

The City of Auburn is floating a stricter ordinance to crack down on homelessness, making camping on public parks and city areas overnight illegal.

AUBURN, Wash. - The City of Auburn is floating a stricter ordinance to crack down on homelessness, making camping on public parks and city areas overnight illegal.

Under the current ordinance, individuals must receive a 48- to 72-hour notice before being trespassed if no shelter is available. The proposed amendment, which is pending a vote on September 16th, would prohibit overnight camping in Auburn's parks.

Parks will now be closed overnight, and those closures will be enforced.

"The update to our ordinance is simply going to say you cannot camp in our parks overnight. Our parks are closed from dusk to dawn," Backus explained. "Our goal is to get people help. It's not to penalize them."

Auburn is the latest city to take action after the Supreme Court decision on Grants Pass v. Johnson.

People caught camping in a park overnight face a $1,000 fine, trespassing charges and even jail time. Backus claims that fines and prosecution are not their city's main focus.

The proposed amendment includes a potential $1,000 fine for violations, though Backus emphasized that this is not the city's primary focus.

"[The fine] could be issued, but that's not our goal. We realize that most individuals who we would find trespassing on properties where that is relevant, most likely would not be able to pay a fine like that, but you do have to implement the fines, as well," said Backus.

For those who do receive fines, Auburn offers a Community Court program designed to help individuals address underlying issues, such as housing instability or substance-use disorders. Participants in this program are not treated as defendants, but rather as community members seeking assistance.

"Typically, you're not a defendant at that point. You become a participant, and you graduate from Community Court, typically with the judge expecting you to work on finding housing or addressing substance-use disorders," Backus said.

Jail time remains a possible consequence for repeated offenses, though Backus noted that it is used sparingly and only when other options have been exhausted.

"If this is a repetitive behavior, if they're not willing to work with our anti-homelessness team, we have increased the number of individuals in that group from one, back in 2020, to four individuals now," said Backus. "Jail may be the right answer for some. We've had individuals thank us, saying they needed time in jail to get clean and sober."

Backus says the proposed ordinance, fines and jail time and all, is a compassionate approach to addressing homelessness in Auburn.

"You have to have compassion, but without accountability, there is no community," Backus said. "There are so many different reasons that a person is out there, and no person is a throwaway. Sometimes there has to be a tough love approach."

Last year, the city housed over 100 individuals experiencing homelessness. However, with a couple of hundred people still in need of assistance, the city is working on helping the rest.

"Our first goal was to help the individuals who are in Auburn, not everyone else. We don't turn people away, but our priority is for those who call Auburn home," said Backus.

Auburn's Director of Human Services, Kent Hays, said the ordinance is intended to help manage the homeless population and maintain public spaces.

"If those people are unwilling at the 48-hour mark, and they're still there and not participating, then they can be trespassed […] We do want to get you into our shelter," said Hays. "We get a lot of flak from people thinking that we hate folks who are homeless, and we're making it hard on people. But I will tell you, when you talk to the people that we've helped, and even if you talk to the people in the homeless community, they will tell you that there's never been a time they haven't been offered services or the ability to get out of this situation," Hays said.

As the city prepares to vote on the new ordinance, both Backus and Hays remain focused on providing help while maintaining the integrity of Auburn's public spaces.

"We truly want to help individuals," Backus said. "There is nothing compassionate or humane about letting someone stay in the elements."

The City Council is slated to vote on the amendment on Sept. 16.