Ocala, FL Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Sec. 42-10 defines 'lodge' as resting while awake or sleeping on covered property when a person is inside, on, or near a tent or sleeping bag, or asleep atop or covered by materials like a bedroll, cardboard or newspapers, or inside a temporary shelter, and/or near a self-built campfire. 'Person without authority' means someone who has not received authorization, license or invitation from the owner, lessee or their agent. The prohibitions in subsection (b) make it unlawful to lodge in the open on private property, including vacant lots, under bridges or structures, or in a railroad car, without the owner's permission, and separately unlawful to lodge in the open on public property at any time, including government buildings, parks, sidewalks, public benches, or government-owned right-of-way.

Subsection (c) builds in an evidentiary safeguard central to how the ordinance is actually enforced: merely being found asleep in one of those places is not by itself enough to support a citation or arrest. Officers must also observe at least one indicium of lodging drawn from the definition, such as a tent, sleeping bag, bedroll, cardboard, newspapers, a temporary shelter, or a campfire, before charging someone under the section. The ordinance has been amended repeatedly since its 1985 codification, most recently by Ord. No.

2021-32 in 2021, reflecting the city's continuing effort to police unauthorized camping on public parks, sidewalks and rights-of-way distinct from simple trespass on enclosed buildings.