Sacramento mayor expected little enforcement of City Hall sleeping ban. Was he right?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- City Hall sleeping ban yielded 11 citations over three months, a sharp decline.
- Earlier enforcement logged 187 citations; experts say ordinance likely displaced people.
- City used outreach and warnings; mayor favored limited enforcement and cleanup savings.
Sacramento’s overnight sleeping ban at City Hall has resulted in few citations, a trend that some experts and homeless people say likely reflects people being pushed to other downtown locations.
The new ordinance, spearheaded by Mayor Kevin McCarty and which took effect in August, prohibits people from sitting, lying down or sleeping outside City Hall during all hours of the day. Previously, an exemption allowed for overnight stays from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In the three months after the ordinance took effect, according to data obtained from a public records request, the Sacramento Police Department reported 11 citations. Nine were issued during the first month.
The 11 citations represents a sharp decline from just months earlier. Under McCarty’s tenure, from mid-December 2024 to early July 2025, the Police Department issued 187 citations for violations of the previous ordinance. Citations are subject to a misdemeanor and civil penalties ranging from $250 to $25,000
Arturo Baiocchi, a Sacramento State social work professor, called the decrease “surprising” and cautioned against making any definitive statements, but said anti-camping ordinances generally lead people to go into hiding. That displacement can later complicate efforts to accurately count the region’s homeless population, he added. The latest federally mandated Point in Time count, which has been contested, estimated in 2024 that about 6,615 homeless people are living in Sacramento County.
“It’s reasonable to say that people are just being pushed out to somewhere else, because it’s not really solving the issue,” Baiocchi said.
McCarty, through a spokesperson, declined to respond to questions about citations since the ban took effect. He pushed forward the policy as a “common sense approach” that would protect city workers, save money on cleanup services and allow for the reallocation of homeless resources.
In late July, following the City Council vote to approve the ban, McCarty said he did not envision “heavy-handed enforcement.”
“We’re not going to be, I think, bringing in police personnel to enforce it,” McCarty told The Sacramento Bee on July 29. “I think it’s going to take care of itself.”
Sgt. Daniel Wiseman, a Police Department spokesperson, said the department conducted an “educational campaign” ahead of the ordinance’s implementation which could explain the lower number of citations. Even now, he said officers are starting with warnings and issuing citations as a “last resort.”
“I think it’s just people know now, and therefore enforcement is just down,” Wiseman said Monday.
The city’s Department of Community Response also spent some days throughout August conducting outreach at City Hall. They passed out flyers, signed people up to the region’s coordinated access system and staffed a table to explain the policy change.
The city had estimated roughly 20 people routinely slept at the property. Most of those did not have housing when the ordinance took effect, according to previous Bee reporting.
Robert Cantu, 40, was among the people who used to sleep at City Hall. He described the location as a “sanctuary” that offered safety, lighting and a place for him to sleep unbothered.
After the ban’s adoption, Cantu said he found other places around downtown to sleep. Others did the same and dispersed to areas like Cesar Chavez plaza and nearby businesses in the weeks that followed, Cantu added.
“It’s worse for people when you don’t give them something,” Cantu said. “It’s not worse for the homeless. It’s worse for the tax-paying working class. It’s worse for the property owners and all the businesses in the area.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
