New MO law to make sleeping on state land a crime

A new Missouri law beginning next month makes sleeping on state land a crime. 

Beginning January 1, anyone who sleeps, camps, or sets up long-term shelters on state-owned land could get a Class C misdemeanor. 

The regulation will impact the state’s homeless population. 

It also requires cities and counties to enforce the ban and allows the Missouri attorney general to sue those who don’t. 

If they don’t follow the ban, they could lose state and federal funding for housing and homelessness efforts. 

The law also restricts some federal and state funds from being used to build affordable housing. 

Those dollars would instead be used to construct temporary camps that help with substance abuse and mental health treatment.