Bay County, FL Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Sec. 15-47 of the Bay County Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ordinance No. 76-7 in 1976, prohibits remaining overnight or camping "in, at or upon the gulf beaches, any public park, or any other public area in the county." The definition of camping is unusually broad: it covers sleeping or resting in an attitude of sleep at night, purporting to reside even temporarily in a public area, and merely sitting or standing about after 1:00 a.m. That last clause means a person does not need a tent or bedding to be in violation; simply lingering in a park or on the beach past 1:00 a.m. can trigger the ordinance.

The section also gives Bay County Sheriff's deputies and code enforcement officers investigative authority: anyone found outdoors after 1:00 a.m. can be asked where they are staying or where they are headed within the county, and must furnish that information if asked. If the person cannot give a lodging address or a destination, that failure is prima facie evidence of camping in violation of the section, shifting the burden to the person to explain their presence.

The ordinance cross-references the county's separate beach rules (Sec. 5-26 et seq.) and park rules (Sec. 18-26 et seq.), which set additional hours and conduct standards for those specific areas. Chapter 15's general penalty section, Sec. 15-1, routes violations to the Code's default penalty at Sec. 1-6, allowing a fine of up to $500.00, up to 60 days in county jail, or both, with each day of a continuing violation charged as a separate offense. This section applies only within unincorporated Bay County; Panama City and Panama City Beach enforce their own separate municipal codes and are not covered by Sec. 15-47.