Kennewick, WA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

KMC 10.08.140(1)(a) provides: "No person may sit or lie down upon a public sidewalk or right-of-way, or upon a blanket, chair, stool, or any other object placed upon a public sidewalk or right-of-way, during the hours between 6:00 a.m. and midnight in the zones designated in this section." Separately, at all times, it is unlawful to sit on a drinking fountain, trash container, planter, bicycle rack or similar fixture, or to sit or lie in any building or parking lot entrance or exit or on a loading dock, under 10.08.140(1)(b)-(c). Seven exceptions in subsection (2) cover medical emergencies and disabilities, wheelchair and walker users, permitted business or sidewalk-fixture use, parades and permitted special events, agency-supplied benches, and waiting at a bus stop.

The four designated zones are listed at 10.08.140(4): Clearwater Avenue to Kennewick Avenue between Yelm Street and Huntington Street; 24th to 28th between Tweedt Street and Olson Street; Clearwater Avenue between Arthur Street and Morain Street; and the Central Business District generally, from 1st Avenue to Canal Drive between Dayton Street and Washington Street, including the named cross streets. Before enforcement, subsection (3) requires that a law enforcement officer first notify the person that the conduct violates the section and give a reasonable time to comply; only a refusal to comply, or a repeat violation elsewhere in the zone, triggers enforcement. The section does not authorize conduct that separately violates the disorderly conduct ban on obstructing pedestrian or vehicular traffic under KMC 10.08.020.