Peoria, IL Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 20-120, "Camping on public property," adopted by Ord. No. 18220 on November 19, 2024, prohibits camping or storing personal property, including tents, sleeping bags, cots or shopping carts left unattended more than one hour, on any street, bridge, park, or public property, improved or unimproved, or wherever camping obstructs the property's intended public use. The section defines "camp" as pitching or occupying camp facilities for habitation, expressly excluding recreational tent use in parks during daylight hours when the park is open. Enforcement is assigned to the director of community development, the chief of police or their designees, who must provide a verbal and written warning before citing, along with a referral to shelter, transportation or service agencies; a person already banned from a city shelter is deemed referred.

City officials may immediately remove debris posing a health or safety danger without warning, but otherwise must give 48-hour written notice before confiscating property, retaining non-hazardous items for at least 30 days for the owner to reclaim. The city may also post areas as off-limits to camping, after which the ban is enforceable without further notice within 50 feet of the posting, ten days after it goes up. Penalties escalate: a first offense draws a $50 to $100 fine, satisfied automatically if there is no repeat within 180 days; a second offense within 180 days draws $100 to $250; a third or subsequent offense within 180 days draws $250 to $750 plus possible incarceration up to the maximum under 65 ILCS 5/1-2-9, and each day of a continuing violation counts as a separate offense.