Housing Before Handcuffs Stop Indiana From Criminalizing Homelessness
No human being should be jailed, fined, or pushed deeper into poverty because they do not have a safe and lawful place to sleep.
Raise Your Voice is calling for housing, shelter, treatment, accountability, and humane alternatives to arrest under Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 285.
Page last updated: July 17, 2026
Homelessness is a housing crisis, not a character flaw.
Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 285 created a statewide offense called “street camping.” The law prohibits camping, sleeping, or using state- or locally-owned land for long-term shelter unless that use is authorized by law.
Supporters say the law provides a public-safety tool and connects people to services. Critics warn that criminal penalties can deepen homelessness by creating fines, court obligations, jail exposure, lost property, and additional barriers to employment and housing.
Raise Your Voice believes public safety and human dignity are not opposing goals. Communities can address unsafe conditions while prioritizing shelter, housing, mental-health care, addiction recovery, outreach, sanitation, transportation, and employment support.
Key Facts
- SEA 285 took effect July 1, 2026.
- It applies to unauthorized camping or sleeping on state or local government land.
- Police must first assess whether emergency detention procedures apply.
- A first warning must include information about service or shelter locations.
- At least 48 hours must pass before the new misdemeanor elements can be met.
- The person must be within 300 feet of the warning location.
- The offense is a Class C misdemeanor.
- Diversion programs may be available.
- The law creates specific defenses, including lack of an available bed within five miles.
Understanding SEA 285 in plain language.
The enrolled law contains several steps, conditions, diversion options, and defenses. The summary below is general public education, not legal advice.
1. Prohibits Unauthorized Public Camping
A person may not camp, sleep, or use for long-term shelter land owned by Indiana or a political subdivision unless the land is legally authorized for that use.
2. Requires an Emergency-Detention Assessment
Before proceeding under the street-camping chapter, the officer must determine whether reasonable grounds exist for an emergency detention under Indiana’s mental-health laws.
3. Requires a Warning First
For a first violation when emergency detention does not apply, the officer must give a warning and provide information about locations authorized to offer services or shelter.
4. Creates a 48-Hour and 300-Foot Rule
A Class C misdemeanor may apply when at least 48 hours have passed after the warning and the person is still camping, sleeping, or sheltering on covered public land within 300 feet of the warning location.
5. Allows Diversion
A person charged may be eligible for prosecutorial or forensic diversion, and a court may refer the person for evaluation and treatment.
6. Creates Legal Defenses
- No bed was available at a shelter or treatment facility within five miles.
- Less than six months have passed since release from certain mental-health detention.
7. Restricts Local Non-Enforcement Policies
The law limits local policies that prohibit or discourage enforcement of public camping, sleeping, or sidewalk-obstruction rules.
8. Requires Statewide Reporting
Local law-enforcement agencies must report annual citation and arrest totals to Indiana State Police, which then provides the information to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
Important distinction: a defense is not the same as guaranteed placement.
The law creates a defense when no shelter or treatment bed is available within five miles. That does not necessarily mean a bed must be secured before every warning, citation, or arrest. A person facing enforcement should document what shelters were contacted, whether a bed was actually available, distance, eligibility restrictions, transportation barriers, disability access, family placement, and any refusal by a facility.
Anyone facing a charge should speak with a licensed attorney or public defender as quickly as possible.
Criminal penalties can make it harder to become housed.
A citation or arrest does not create a home. It can add new barriers to people who are already trying to survive without stable shelter.
Days of Possible Jail Exposure
Indiana’s maximum sentence for a Class C misdemeanor is up to 60 days in jail. Actual outcomes depend on the case and court.
Maximum Fine
A Class C misdemeanor can carry a fine of up to $500, apart from possible court costs and other consequences.
Hours After Warning
The law uses a 48-hour period and a 300-foot radius as elements of the new street-camping offense.
No Bed. No Charge. Housing Before Handcuffs.
Raise Your Voice is asking state and local leaders to use every available housing-centered alternative before placing an unhoused person into the criminal justice system.
Availability should account for disability access, family composition, pets, transportation, sobriety rules, safety, and program eligibility.
Fund emergency shelter, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, outreach, and prevention programs.
Use housing, treatment, case management, and community services instead of jail and criminal records.
Publish warnings, citations, arrests, diversions, available-bed data, outcomes, and demographic information while protecting privacy.
Preserve identification, medication, phones, legal papers, blankets, mobility devices, and survival supplies during encampment responses.
People need a clear way to report misconduct, lost property, disability-access failures, or inaccurate shelter referrals.
Contact the people with the authority to act.
Ask state and local leaders to prioritize housing, publish enforcement data, fund services, protect property, and expand diversion.
State-Level Action
- Contact the Governor and request a housing-centered implementation plan.
- Contact your Indiana senator and representative.
- Ask lawmakers to review the law’s human and financial impact.
- Request funding for shelter, supportive housing, outreach, treatment, and prevention.
- Request public reporting on enforcement and outcomes.
Phone: 317-232-4567
Mail: Office of the Governor, Statehouse, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2797
Local Action
- Contact your mayor, city council, county commissioners, sheriff, and prosecutor.
- Ask whether officers will use diversion before arrest whenever possible.
- Request a written encampment-response and property-protection policy.
- Request current shelter-capacity and bed-availability reporting.
- Ask how people with disabilities, families, veterans, and domestic-violence survivors will be protected.
Copy, personalize, and send.
Keep your message respectful, direct, and focused on specific policy requests.
Subject: Housing Before Handcuffs — Implement SEA 285 Without Deepening Homelessness
Housing, shelter, and legal resources.
Availability and eligibility vary. Contact the provider directly for current information.
Indiana 211
For shelter, housing, food, transportation, health, and other local services, dial 211 or 866-211-9966. You may also text your ZIP code to 898-211.
Indiana 211Indiana Legal Services
Low-income Hoosiers with eligible non-criminal civil legal problems may apply online or call 1-844-243-8570 during intake hours.
Apply for Legal HelpIndiana Legal Help
Find court information, self-help materials, legal forms, and connections to legal resources for people representing themselves.
Visit Indiana Legal HelpACLU of Indiana
For civil-rights information and potential rights concerns, contact the ACLU of Indiana at 317-635-4059 or use its official website.
Contact ACLU IndianaIndiana Housing and Community Development Authority
IHCDA coordinates the Indiana Balance of State Continuum of Care covering 91 of Indiana’s 92 counties and supports statewide homelessness-response systems.
Indiana Balance of State CoCIndianapolis / Marion County
The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention coordinates the Indianapolis Continuum of Care. General office: 317-630-0853.
CHIP IndianapolisRead the law and supporting information.
Raise Your Voice will update this page when credible new enforcement data, court decisions, amendments, or official guidance become available.
The official enrolled text includes the warning, 48-hour, 300-foot, diversion, defense, reporting, and local-policy provisions.
Legislative history, bill documents, amendments, votes, and official materials.
Presents the Governor’s stated public-safety, shelter, treatment, and diversion rationale.
Explains the law and emphasizes the need for funded housing and service partnerships.
Provides an advocacy analysis of possible costs to unhoused people, courts, jails, and communities.
Provides the statutory maximum jail sentence and fine for a Class C misdemeanor.
Important Legal and Editorial Notice
This page provides general public education and advocacy information. It is not legal advice, legal representation, or a guarantee of any outcome. Laws can be interpreted differently by courts, prosecutors, law-enforcement agencies, and attorneys based on the facts of a case.
If you receive a warning, citation, summons, or arrest connected to public camping, document the date, time, location, officer or agency, shelter information provided, actual bed availability, transportation offered, property taken or discarded, witnesses, photographs, disability needs, and all court deadlines. Contact a licensed attorney or public defender promptly.
Raise Your Voice supports peaceful, informed civic engagement. Do not threaten, harass, dox, or interfere with public officials, service providers, law enforcement, unhoused residents, witnesses, or private individuals.
Housing Solves Homelessness. Handcuffs Do Not.
Stand with unhoused Hoosiers. Demand shelter, housing, treatment, transparency, property protection, and meaningful alternatives to arrest.