Boulder City Council, from left: Council Member Steve Walton, Mayor Pro Tempore Sherri Jorgensen, Mayor Joe Hardy, Council Member Cokie Booth, Council Member Denise Ashurst. (Boulder City Council meeting screengrab)
Boulder City is the latest community in Nevada to enact an anti-homeless camping ban, which took effect in June.
Susan Reams, a Boulder City resident who is currently experiencing homelessness, filed a lawsuit in late July seeking to make the ordinance “more humane” and prevent the law from being enforced, especially in the triple digit heat.
“Because of rising rent costs and (the) unemployment rate, a lot of people, including myself, are unhoused,” Reams said. “I just think there’s more that Boulder City could be doing. There’s nowhere for people to go. Boulder City doesn’t have safe camping zones or even a shelter.”
In an email to Nevada Current, a city spokesperson said it couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because it had not yet been served with it.
The council unanimously passed the ordinance May 27 that prohibits camping, sleeping, and storing personal property in a public place. Violating the ordinance is a misdemeanor and people could face up to six months in jail.
City Attorney Brittany Walker told council members in May that the bill would “provide the city with the tools it needs in order to ensure that individuals aren’t camping in the public places and are seeking services.”
Boulder City joined Reno, Las Vegas, Henderson and Sparks along with Clark, Washoe and Nye counties in being among localities across the state that have passed or expanded various punitive measures in recent years to restrict where those experiencing homelessness can sleep or camp.
Multiple decisions out of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes Nevada, ruled in recent years that ordinances were unconstitutional if cities didn’t have adequate shelter space for people who were sleeping in public places.
Some cities, including the City of Las Vegas, tried to circumvent the federal court’s ruling by adopting bans on sleeping and sitting in public rights of way that would only go into effect if shelter space was available.
The legal landscape changed in June 2024, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled local governments are not violating the 8th Amendment’s restriction on cruel and unusual punishment if they criminalize people experiencing homelessness for sleeping outside, even if there aren’t other adequate accommodations.
More than 200 municipalities across the country have adopted anti-homeless camping bans since last year’s high court ruling, according to the National Homelessness Law Center.
Increased statutory criminalization comes as homelessness has spiked across the country, including in Nevada.
The state saw a 17% increase in homelessness last year, according to a December report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Southern Nevada’s 2024 Point-in-Time Count, an annual snapshot of homelessness on one particular night, showed a 13-year high in the number of people experiencing homelessness.
The data is likely an undercount.
Among the number of those entering into homelessness is Reams, who was evicted last year.
“I didn’t realize that you could be evicted even though your rent was paid,” she said, adding that her eviction stemmed from having two dogs in the apartment.
Though she has been able to get an occasional room at weekly motels, most of the time she has been finding discreet spots to sleep around Boulder City.
“There is a Boulder City emergency aid, but their hours are limited along with their finances,” Reams said.
Though she has signed up to be on waitlist for housing assistance through Boulder City and other nonprofits, she hasn’t had any luck.
In an email to the Current, the city said in 2022 it created a community resources liaison position at the Boulder City Hospital to help address needs of unhoused individuals.
The liaison declined to be interviewed.
In the email the city said the liaison has connected unhoused individuals to services, including recently several unhoused people who were reunited with families out of town.
“Our first response will be referrals to the Community Resources Liaison rather than issuing a citation,” the city said in an email. “The new ordinance provides a legal mechanism for the city to approach unhoused people in our parks and help connect them with available resources.”
The city told the Current they have tallied 12 unhoused people in the city.
In a staff report from the May 27 council meeting, officials said that “a growing number of individuals are occupying public places in Boulder City and storing personal property and belongings in public places in a manner causing concern for City staff.”
Speaking to council members at the May meeting, Boulder City Police Chief Tim Shea said some of the unhoused people officers have talked with have said they were told by law enforcement in the Las Vegas area to come to Boulder City.
Boulder City Councilwoman Denise Ashurst said she believed the city needed an ordinance “because if you don’t have something in place, then you don’t have anything to lean on if you do need something.”
Camping will still be allowed with a permit, said Walker, the city attorney.
Walker also said it was her understanding that “there has never been a conviction under Las Vegas or Henderson ordinance for such a violation.”
However, data previously reported on by the Current showed that the Henderson Police Department issued 150 citations or arrests among 99 people for camping or sleeping in a public right of way from August 2023 to September 2024.
Shea said his department would use discretion before issuing a citation or making an arrest.
In the meantime, Reams said she is making repeated appeals to get the council to make the ordinance more humane, and has called for a town hall in order for city officials to better understand the homeless crisis.
“I find this is a big issue in Boulder City, and I don’t think it’s going to get any better,” she said.
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Author: Michael Lyle
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