Taylor, TX Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Section 19-11, enacted by Ordinance No. 2025-33 effective January 22, 2026, applies only within the Downtown Overlay District mapped in Exhibit A-1 to Ordinance No. 2025-35, so the sit-lie rule does not reach the rest of the city. It is not a first-offense ban: subsection (b) makes it unlawful to sit or lie down on a public sidewalk, street, alleyway or property only after a law enforcement officer has already notified the person, within the previous 12 months, that the conduct violates the section. Six exceptions in subsection (c) keep the rule narrow: a medical emergency, operating or patronizing a sidewalk business, participating in or watching a parade, festival, performance, rally or demonstration, sitting on a chair or bench supplied by a public agency or the abutting property owner, waiting in a designated bus stop zone, or waiting in a line for goods, services or an event.

Subsection (d) adds an affirmative defense for a person sitting or lying down because of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The section was adopted alongside three companion downtown ordinances on sleeping in public, panhandling and sidewalk obstruction, all effective the same date, and all four share the penalty set out in section 19-15.