Macon-Bibb County is the only municipality in Middle Georgia where homeless camping and sleeping in public is banned.
It is illegal to sleep on private premises or place property on someone else’s property without consent in Bibb County. However, law enforcement is a last resort, and arrests for these ordinances are close to none. The sheriff’s office has only arrested one person and issued one citation related to these laws since 2022, according to documents obtained by The Telegraph through the Georgia Open Records Act.
The ordinances actually have allowed for more outreach and support than arrests. County departments and a local homeless nonprofit almost always intervene before law enforcement takes action.
The laws were enacted in 1979, but metal signs were put up over the past few years in public spaces where encampments have grown more common, according to Chris Floore, chief communications officer of Bibb County.
Recent efforts were improved thanks to a former pastor who now steers the county’s housing improvement efforts.
“We’ve had this much more robust program to help people who are experiencing homelessness ... ” Floore said. “The (county) attorney said it would be good if we provided the notice that this is actually not allowed.”
Bibb County uses a holistic approach to combat homelessness, said Rev. Jake Hall, executive director of United to End Homelessness, an initiative by United Way of Central Georgia.
Rather than immediately clearing out encampment sites, Hall drives around with licensed clinical social workers to talk with those living there and connect them with housing, financial and health resources.
“Being homeless is not something that’s illegal … They haven’t done anything illegal by living there,” Hall said. “You’re not going to sweep and arrest, that’s not (Bibb County’s) first response.”
It doesn’t make sense to criminalize people for living on the street without offering those people other solutions like Bibb County has, Hall said.
“If Macon weren’t doing all these other things and we had operationalized those two laws as the only way that we deal with homelessness, like working it through the law enforcement system, well that would be ridiculous,” Hall said.
The former pastor criticized cities that have removed people or destroyed encampments without offering them support first.
United to End Homelessness attempts to connect those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity with service providers, alternative housing and funding agencies.
“I’m pleased that Bibb County doesn’t lead with that tool,” he said. “Other communities seem to lead with law enforcement and code enforcement – they’re the tip of the spear.”
Large metropolitan cities including Atlanta and Miami have reportedly used inhumane techniques to sweep away tent cities.
A bulldozer killed a man living in a tent during a sweep of the encampment in Atlanta on Jan. 16, according to media reports. Activists told The Guardian city workers failed to check the tents beforehand.
After an “aggressive campaign” to clear out homeless camps in Miami, the Miami City Commission settled on a lawsuit in 2024 that alleged it discarded people’s belongings without notice in 2021, the Miami New Times reported.
“They’re doing it wrong,” Hall said of those cities.
His initiative focuses outreach to encampments that pose safety or health risks for themselves or the public. Larger encampments are more prone to these conditions, which can include unsanitary conditions, heavy drug use or criminal activity.
He compared them to small cities, often with several tents. Those within them often support or rely on each other.
“There’s something beautiful about that,” he said. “Small cities have their vices, but when those vices grow too large, it can affect the health of the people that live within those areas and surrounding folks.”
Before approaching a camp, United to End Homelessness asks the property owner if they gave permission for those people to live there.
Rather than forcing them off the property, the organization asks about their needs, with housing as the first priority. Groups that pose safety or health risks are advised to move and take their belongings with them to Brookdale Resource Center, Hello House, Salvation Army, or Daybreak Resource Center, which each work closely with United Way.
Small groups or homeless people living independently are less of a priority to have relocated, as long as they do not cause harm. Instances of public disturbances, such as disrupting a business, are different from simply having a bed rolled out.
Next, he assures them that harm reduction and mental health services are available. River Edge Behavioral Health, a Macon-based nonprofit and the largest community service board under United to End Homelessness, offers permanent housing and therapy for people with mental health and addiction issues.
His team and local chronically unsheltered individuals are usually familiar with each other, as they flow between shelters and the encampments. This makes it easier to persuade or encourage them to accept services.
Given these options, those living in the camp can decide whether to take up the offer, or deny care. And that’s okay too, Hall said.
His past experience serving others as a senior pastor is evident in his current work.
“I worked with pew-sitters. Pew-sitters have homes and too much money, and engage in performative aspects like gathering socks…” he said, chuckling. “This kind of work is its own special blend of mending the world in sometimes more direct ways than my previous life.”
Monday, Hall helped stabilize a man who was coming off of methamphetamine at Gateway Park on Riverside and Coliseum drives. The man agreed to get help.
“It’s a hard life, so cynicism is a natural occurrence when you’ve been through a system that can’t figure out how to respond to your needs,” Hall said.
When responding to a homeless camp in Macon, cops are the last resort.
United to End Homelessness meets monthly with local hospitals, mental health nonprofits, social workers, homeless shelters; and Macon-Bibb County Fire Department, Emergency Management Agency and Code Enforcement. These entities notify the organization of new or rebuilt encampments, then they decide how to mediate with them.
“Our typical engagement with homeless persons does not involve a clearance so much as it involves support,” Hall said. “The first effort is always high-touch, low-key, and we go out with supplies and social workers.”
Feeling uncomfortable by the sight of a homeless person is not reason to have them removed from the location. In most cases, don’t call the cops unless you feel unsafe, Hall suggested.
“Sometimes we just get nuisance calls where people just don’t like the idea that there’s a homeless person, and it offends their sensibilities…,” Hall said, shrugging. “I have a fun time explaining that every human being has worth and I’m sorry that this person’s life choices are theirs.”
In fact, he intentionally rarely calls in law enforcement because he knows many are afraid of police. Some people are less likely to agree to seek housing or medical care if they see a cop. If a situation seems unsafe for Hall’s personnel, he usually requests assistance from the fire department or code enforcement.
“People don’t run from firemen…,” he said. “If they see badges and polyester, people could freak out, so we take that into account when we do a service plan.”
A homeless man was removed and arrested from his encampment downtown to make way for Macon’s annual International Cherry Blossom Festival in 2024, according to an incident report from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.
Two county entities, public works and code enforcement, assisted in “the removal of a homeless camp,” which sat on an empty, unused parking lot surrounded by overgrown grass along the Ocmulgee River in front of Carolyn Crayton Park on March 13, 2024, the report said.
“The suspect… was instructed to leave the property so it can be prepared for the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival,” Code Enforcement Officer Grant Herndon told deputies.
Herndon requested the sheriff’s office arrest him after the homeless man removed some belongings, but returned to the location and “was acting very disorderly,” the report said. It was unclear how he acted disorderly.
Herdon held him in custody until a sergeant arrived, then took him to the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center.
He had a medical screening upon arrival and was in jail for a short time before being released.
The sergeant asked if he wanted to go to a hospital, but the man declined. Instead, he dropped him off at a gas station and gave him a $150 ticket and court date. He was cited with a misdemeanor for placing property on another person’s property without consent.
Warner Robins and Jones County do not have a similar law that outlaws people living on the street, and there were no citations or arrests of this sort at least since 2022, according to records requests to the Warner Robins Police Department and Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
“I won’t say we never will (arrest or cite someone) but we typically try to help these people,” Brittani Marks, administrative coordinator for the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, said. “We offer them a ride and sometimes if possible try to find them temporary housing through Sonrise Ministries.”
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to The Telegraph’s request for records.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.
