Decatur, GA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Section 86-21 of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia, does more than ban camping: subsection (c) separately makes it unlawful to sit or lie down on any 'public street,' a term the section defines to include sidewalks, benches, parking lots and medians. Subsection (d) adds a narrower rule reaching any public property: sitting, lying down, camping or storing property is unlawful wherever it interferes with ingress or egress from a building. The article then lists 11 exceptions in subsection (f): sitting or lying because of a medical emergency; sitting in a wheelchair; sitting to watch a permitted parade; patronizing an outdoor cafe; sitting, lying or napping at a festival, concert or performance in a park, street or sidewalk; sitting on a city-supplied or abutting-property bench or chair; sitting on a bus-zone seat while waiting for the bus; waiting in an orderly line for tickets, for building entry, or for social services such as meals; children under 13 sleeping in a park or being carried, strollered or in a car seat; and operators of permitted mobile food facilities.

As with the camping ban in the same section, subsection (e) bars an arrest until the person has received a written warning and an opportunity to comply. 00, up to six months in jail, or both, with continued noncompliance counted day by day.