Southaven, MS Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 11-69, Urban camping and improper use of public places, was adopted by resolution on August 15, 2023 and sits in Title XI, Chapter 3. It makes three acts unlawful. Under (b) no person can camp. Under (c) no person can store personal property. Under (d) no person can interfere with ingress and egress. Camping is defined as the use of a street, sidewalk, other right-of-way or any area underneath a bridge within the City of Southaven for living accommodation purposes, such as sleeping or preparing to sleep (including laying down bedding or using a vehicle for sleeping), storing personal belongings, making a fire, cooking, or using a tent or other structure for habitation. The definition turns on whether, in light of all the circumstances, the person is in fact using the area as living accommodation, regardless of intent.

Storing personal property means leaving personal effects unattended on public property, under a bridge or in a park, such as clothing, bedrolls, cookware, sleeping bags, luggage, knapsacks or backpacks, and it does not include parking a bicycle or other mode of transportation. Park means any city-owned park, and public property means any street, sidewalk or other right-of-way within the city.

The cleanup protocol is short and specific. Subsection (e) bars arrest until the person has received an oral or written warning from the Southaven Police Department to cease the prohibited conduct, and an arrest is allowed only if the person fails to comply. Subsection (f) lets the department deem property stored in violation of (c) abandoned and confiscate it, with no warning required beforehand, and the department retains the property in a manner consistent with the handling of other confiscated property.

Three exceptions apply. Subsections (b) and (c) do not apply during a permitted outdoor event on the property where the event is located, as set forth in a city-issued outdoor event permit, unless the permit explicitly prohibits the activity (g). The section does not apply to city, state or county officials or employees acting in their official capacity (h), or to city, state or county contractors and subcontractors performing work within the scope of a city contract (i). The section prints no fine of its own.