Yolo County, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Chapter 20, 'Promotion of Safe and Open Public Spaces,' adopted by Ord. 1514 in December 2019, defines an encampment in Sec. 02(b) as a tent or similar covered or enclosed temporary structure large enough for a person to fit under or inside while sitting or lying down, including a tarp tied to a structure or bush. Before removing an encampment, the enforcing employee (the Sheriff's Office, Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Environmental Health, Department of General Services, or local police on County property inside a city, per Sec.

05) must first offer information about available housing, shelter, and health and human services under Sec. 04. Sec. 06 then requires written notice at least 24 hours before removal, personally served or posted at the site, stating the location, the date and time of service, that the encampment violates the chapter, that removal will occur 24 hours later, contact information for shelter and services, and an advisement that abandoned personal property will be impounded for at least 90 days before being discarded, with no fee for storage or retrieval.

Sec. 07 lets an occupant present at removal keep personal property except items posing an immediate health or safety threat or evidence of a crime; items soiled by bodily fluids, moldy, insect- or vermin-infested, or food need not be stored and may be discarded outright. Notably, Sec. 05 specifies that chapter violations are not infractions, misdemeanors, or felonies and no citation may issue for them, though the County retains authority to enforce other laws separately.