Homelessness & Encampment Rules in Santa Barbara County, CA (2026)

1 county-level rule, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Santa Barbara County, California.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Encampment Sanitation

Santa Barbara County bans sleeping or camping between a half hour after sunset and 6:00 a.m. on any public road or public property in the unincorporated area, and on private property without the owner's consent, under County Code Sec. 24-5.3. A narrow safety exception lets drivers pull off the road to sleep, and a county-contracted vehicle-sleeping program is exempt on designated lots.

Santa Barbara County Public Camping Ban

Significant Restrictions

Santa Barbara County Code Sec. 24-5.1, 24-5.2, 24-5.3, 24-5.4

It shall be unlawful for any person to sleep or camp between the hours of one half hour after sunset of one day and 6:00 A.M. of the next day, whether inside or outside of a vehicle in or on any: (a)Public road; or (b)Public property, except that vehicles may be parked in and used for overnight sleeping in parking lots on county owned property if the following conditions are met... (c)Private p...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Homelessness & Encampment Rules by City in Santa Barbara County

1 cities in Santa Barbara County have their own homelessness & encampment rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.

Santa MariaPop. 112,076

1 verified rule • Encampment Sanitation

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