Paramount, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

The City of Paramount, California, in Los Angeles County, regulates sitting and standing in public passageways through Chapter 9.04 (Miscellaneous Offenses) of the Paramount Municipal Code, which the Paramount City Council adopted. Section 9.04.200 names four places: a public highway, an alley, a sidewalk and a crosswalk. It names three acts: to loiter, to stand and to sit. Presence alone is not the offense. The conduct is unlawful when it hinders or obstructs the free passage of persons or vehicles, or when it annoys or molests persons passing along the same place.

The section does not mention lying down, bedding, belongings or a person's housing status, and it sets no distance, hour or time limit. What the City must show is the obstruction, annoyance or molestation itself.

A companion rule, § 9.04.160, protects building entrances. It is unlawful to loiter or to stand or sit in or at the entrance of any church, hall, theater or place of public assemblage so as in any manner to obstruct the entrance.

Overnight shelter is handled by other sections. Section 9.04.440 bars camping in any vehicle parked in a public place between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., and defines "camp" as to live in, sleep in, occupy, inhabit or use a vehicle as temporary or permanent shelter or quarters. Section 9.04.210 requires City Manager and City Council approval, followed by County Fire Department and Building and Safety permits, before anyone erects a tent covering an area in excess of 120 square feet. Section 9.04.190 separately bars removing or abandoning a business's shopping cart on a public street, alley, sidewalk, parkway or other public place.

Section 1.04.190 lets a public employee certified under Section 832 of the California Penal Code arrest without a warrant for a misdemeanor committed in his or her presence, and Section 1.04.200 requires a written notice to appear when the person is not taken immediately before a magistrate.