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

Section 17-4, 'No camping on county property,' defines camping as pitching or occupying a tent or other temporary shelter for sleeping or habitation, using camping equipment such as tarpaulins, cots, sleeping bags or portable stoves (barbecue grills the county itself provides are excluded). The prohibition covers any property owned or managed by the Board of County Commissioners or the county land authority, including all county-owned parks and recreational facilities, and it runs around the clock. The section is careful to state that the mere act of sleeping in a public place is not, by itself, enough to violate it; at least one other indicium of camping must be present.

Before an officer can arrest someone under this section, the officer must first ask whether the person is homeless, and if so, must advise them of an available 'safe zone,' a facility designated by the county or a municipality where homeless people can carry out life-sustaining activities free from the threat of arrest, and offer relocation there instead of arrest. Officers who do arrest someone under the section must make reasonable efforts to identify and preserve that person's personal property. The prohibition does not apply to sites the Board designates by resolution or ordinance, to conduct already covered by the separate right-of-way camping ban in Section 17-3, or to a beach umbrella used for shade during a facility's daytime hours.

The county administrator can waive the camping ban on a per-event basis, generally requiring the requesting group to carry liability insurance naming the Board as an additional insured.