By Devyani Chhetri
Dallas Morning News
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
The nonprofit sent a 60-day notice to city officials on Wednesday
The City of Dallas may be in for another lawsuit if it doesn’t enforce a state law that bans unauthorized camping in public spaces and removes homeless encampments from its sidewalks.
Dallas Hero, the nonprofit that led the ballot measure to waive municipal immunity and expose the city to lawsuits if it violates the charter and state law, sent a 60-day notice to the Dallas City Council on Wednesday.
In his letter to city officials, Art Martinez De Vara, an attorney for the nonprofit, said the city needed to immediately enforce state law and provide updates on how the city intends to comply with state law.
The letter also cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that upheld bans on encampments and gave state and local municipalities the authority to fine people experiencing homelessness for sleeping in public areas.
“Prop S emphasizes the importance of upholding public safety and ensuring accountability in addressing this issue. Dallas HERO is giving you 60 days to comply. Public safety cannot wait— let’s get this done,” Dallas Hero said on X.
The Dallas Morning News has reached out to city officials for comment.
The origins of the case began in Grants Pass, a rural town in Oregon. It was targeted at a federal appeals court ruling that disallowed local municipalities from fining people $295 for sleeping outside after tents began crowding public parks and said that such bans violated the Eighth Amendment in areas where there aren’t enough shelter beds.
So far, Dallas officials have not clearly outlined if they are enforcing the state’s camping ban and fining people for sleeping outside. A coalition of providers, led by Housing Forward, the agency at the forefront of the homelessness response in Dallas and Collin counties, has been working with city officials to rehouse people through the street-to-home operation.
The group helped rehouse more than 100 people who had been experiencing homelessness and were sleeping in camps near City Hall. The project in itself is based on the “housing first” philosophy, which states that homelessness is a housing issue and putting a roof over one’s head is the only way to permanently end it.
City officials have vowed that they would cut homelessness in half by 2026. Lately, council members have been pushing for temporary housing measures in tiny homes and sanctioned parking and camping sites to speed up the process of moving camps away from public spaces.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
