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

Section 1-19, adopted by Ordinance No. 24-19 on September 17, 2024, makes it unlawful for anyone to publicly camp or sleep in a county-owned building or on its grounds, defined broadly to include grass areas, sidewalks and parking facilities beyond the building itself, unless the county has designated that spot for recreational camping and sleeping. "Public camping or sleeping" covers lodging overnight in a tent, temporary shelter, or with bedding, pillows or stored belongings, or simply residing overnight outdoors without shelter; it excludes anyone lodging where they may lawfully be, or campers using a county-designated recreational site.

The same ordinance created two companion bans the same day. Section 19-2 applies the identical prohibition to county-owned streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way and other public ways, though it separately exempts anyone lodging overnight in a registered, insured motor vehicle parked where it may lawfully be. Section 16-43(a), governing county parks, beaches, water bodies and recreational areas, confines lawful camping to posted parks only and bars leaving unattended personal property, collapsible structures, sheds or trailers overnight or during posted closed hours.

None of the three sections creates its own civil citation; instead each authorizes law enforcement to treat a violation as trespass under Florida Statutes Chapter 810, meaning deputies can order a person to leave and arrest for trespass if they refuse or return. The county's cleanup protocol is enforcement-driven rather than permit-based: there is no separate encampment-abatement procedure written into these sections beyond the authority to remove and cite for trespass.