Amarillo, TX Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

without permission from the entity that owns or controls it, with no minimum gear required to trigger the definition. 'Municipal Facility' covers City Hall, the Simms Building, libraries, police and fire stations, the civic/convention center, fleet services, and water and sewage plants, but excludes parks. Camping there, or on a public right-of-way including a sidewalk, street, alley, highway, or culvert, is a Class C misdemeanor under Sec. 10-3-45(b). Violations are also declared a nuisance the city may abate by summarily removing tents, bedding, and belongings under Sec.

10-3-45(c). The ordinance builds in three affirmative defenses at Sec. 10-3-45(d): lawfully parking an RV or camper on a public street under state law or city ordinance, or in a Civic Center lot during a permitted event; using a public park within that park's own rules; and being an Unsheltered Person when the Annual Report of Available Beds shows insufficient shelter space for the local unsheltered population, a report the Health and Human Services Director maintains yearly using Amarillo Homeless Management Information System (AHMIS) data.

Section 10-3-45(f) states the article is not meant to criminalize the status of involuntary homelessness or to restrict lawful First Amendment activity such as demonstrations, but is meant only to keep municipal facilities and rights-of-way usable for their intended public purposes. Adopted by Ordinance No. 7333 in 2012 and amended by Ordinance No. 7596 in 2016, the ordinance predates and operates alongside the state's 2021 camping ban.