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

Sec. 62-81 of the Shenandoah Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ord. No. O-20-001 on January 8, 2020, makes it unlawful to camp in any public area except a designated camping area. "Public area" is defined broadly to include streets, highways, parks, parking lots, alleyways, underpasses, pedestrian ways and the common areas of schools, churches, hospitals, apartment buildings, office buildings and businesses. "Camp" is defined to cover using a public area for living or overnight accommodation, including storing personal belongings, making a fire, using a tent, shelter, other material, structure or vehicle for a living accommodation or overnight stay, cooking, or digging or earth-breaking activities.

878-acre tract in the Montgomery County School Land Survey, Abstract No. 350, described by metes and bounds and deed records filed with Montgomery County. A person commits an offense only after a law enforcement officer has notified them the conduct violates the section and given a reasonable opportunity to correct it; whether someone is "camping" is judged on the totality of the circumstances regardless of the person's stated intent or other activities underway. 05, enacted by HB 1925 (2021), separately makes a state offense to camp in a public place without effective consent; the city's own ordinance predates and operates alongside that statute rather than substituting for it.