The Sacramento County District Attorney wants the public to weigh in on the homeless crisis and decide if the city of Sacramento should enforce the encampment ban on public sidewalks.
District Attorney Thien Ho is asking people to fill out a survey on the DA-Office website.
District Attorney Ho has said, depending on the findings, it could lead to a civil lawsuit or even a criminal case against the city.
He told the Sacramento Bee that potential criminal charges may stem from California Penal Code 370 violations. It prohibits “public nuisance” and cites “anything which is injurious to health, or is indecent, or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood.”
The survey follows his request to Sacramento city officials to clear homeless campsites near the Sacramento Superior Courthouse.
City officials have countered that they cannot clear most of the encampments without first opening more shelter beds, for which it lacks funding.