SPOKANE, Wash. – Two months after a series of updates to Spokane’s municipal code on obstruction of public property, Mayor Brown is revisiting the code with a proposal to modify public camping law.
A draft of Mayor Brown’s ordinance was presented to Spokane City Council Wednesday afternoon.
In an email to city council, Mayor Brown said her proposal includes a citywide ban on unauthorized camping and obstruction, a focus on navigation and engagement, giving officers discretion to enforce when engagement is declined, and Clarification on enforcement in medians and pedestrian buffer areas.
This ordinance draft was presented following several organization’s criticism of Mayor Brown’s approach to homelessness in Spokane, including the Small Business Association (SBA), who held a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“Overdoses on our steps,” Redemption Church Pastor Miles Rodey said during the press conference. “(There’s) Fentanyl residue and foil everywhere that needed to be cleaned up.”
Mayor Brown’s adjustments also come after Proposition One was overturned by the Washington State Supreme Court in April 2025, despite receiving significant voter approval in Spokane.
Proposition one, banned public camping within 1000 feet of schools, daycare centers and preschools.
In an email to City Council presenting her adjustments, Mayor Brown wrote: “Piecemeal legislation like Proposition 1, was unwieldy, geographically constrained, and difficult for officers to decipher. From a community safety perspective, this updated ordinance is superior because it is citywide, it coordinates SPD with Code Enforcement and our outreach teams, it aligns with Chief Hall’s updated high utilizer program, and it builds on the efforts we are taking to help stabilize people.”
Mayor Brown’s proposed several changes to Municipal Code, but one large change involves striking an existing portion of code and replacing it to include officer discretion for whether or not to arrest individuals in violation of public camping.
The current code reads: ” A person who complies after being notified by a Spokane Police Officer that their conduct violates this section (on public camping) shall not be subject to enforcement under this section. A person who initially complies but subsequently violates this section during the same law enforcement interaction may be subject to enforcement”
Additionally, it reads: “A person engaged by a Spokane Police Officer for conduct in violation of this section, who is offered and accepts from a first responder or City-designated outreach provider, navigation and relocation assistance to an emergency or permanent housing solution, day center, crisis stabilization or crisis relief center, or substance use treatment facility shall not be subject to enforcement under this section.”
These sections would both be replaced under Mayor Brown’s proposal, and instead read: “Spokane Police Officer may enforce any violation of the City’s prohibition on obstructing access to and use of public property as declared in Subsection A. An officer may offer the person City designated outreach or other available services as described in Subsection F in lieu of enforcement at the officer’s discretion.”
During her Tuesday press conference, Mayor Brown emphasized the role of Spokane Police Officers in handling enforcement of public camping and in dealing with open drug use.
“We need law enforcement at this stage,” Brown said. “We also need to step up our enforcement by identifying the individuals having the biggest impact.”
During the press conference, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall addressed concerns about enforcement, stating that the Spokane Police Department has been active in addressing homelessness.
“Quite frankly that’s not fair to the police officers that are out there everyday,” Hall said.
Hall also explained that two-thirds of narcotic arrests in Spokane have occurred in the downtown corridor. Two-Thirds of Trespassing arrests Hall also noted, originate in downtown Spokane.
The ordinance would allow officers to leverage the threat of arrest to turn people towards treatment, Hall explained.
But using a data-driven model, SPD said they have identified individuals that are routinely violating statutes, or as Hall explained, “High Acuity Clients.”
“We’ve worked with our partners at the jail to get 10 dedicated jail beds so that these folks — all of whom have charges, I’ve seen the list — will go to jail,” Hall said.
After Thursday’s Press conference, Non Stop Local spoke with Councilmember Zack Zappone about the Ordinance draft, which had not yet been presented to Spokane City Council.
Zappone pointed out that jailing repeat offenders is not straightforward due to capacity issues.
“The jail is full and it’s at capacity and the county runs it, and they are on the red light that is turning people away,” Zappone said.
Zappone also said that conversations around the ordinance had already started in City Council meetings, and that the Council is interested in weighing in to provide essential resources for officers.
Both he and Chief Hall agree, that more resources are needed to address homelessness in Spokane.
“We really truly don’t have enough places for people to go off the street,” Zappone said.
