Jefferson Parish, LA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 20-48 defines camping broadly: pitching a tent or living in a vehicle for shelter, lighting or maintaining a campfire, sleeping or lying down overnight, or storing personal items overnight, in a public area or on someone else's private property. , and public area covers streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way, parking lots, waterway banks, underpasses, bridges, parks, and similar publicly owned spaces. Section 20-49 makes camping in any public area unlawful outright, and camping on another person's private property unlawful without that owner's express written consent, though the ban doesn't reach facilities where camping is a specifically authorized use.

Section 20-50 sets the removal procedure: before clearing a campsite, the parish must post a notice giving 24 hours to vacate, and that notice has to include information on available shelters, housing assistance, and human services along with contact information for the agencies that provide them. That 24-hour posting requirement is waived only if a law enforcement officer determines the site poses an imminent health or safety threat. Personal items left behind after the deadline are held for at least 30 days so the owner can reclaim them with proof of ownership, and every summons issued under the ordinance is copied to the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority.

Someone who fails to vacate faces escalating penalties: up to 10 hours of community service on a first conviction, up to 20 on a second, and on a third or later conviction, up to 30 hours of community service, a fine of up to $500, or up to six months in jail.