DELAWARE- A new piece of legislation introduced in Delaware would change how the state and local governments treat people experiencing homelessness, providing them with expanded rights and protections when using public spaces for life-sustaining activities like resting or sleeping.
The proposed law, House Bill 135, seeks to address the state's chronic shortage of emergency shelters, affordable housing, and housing support services. According to Housing Alliance Delaware, only 952 of the 7,131 households that contacted the state's homelessness hotline in 2024 were referred to housing assistance, leaving thousands without a safe place to go.
According to the General Assembly, in the absence of adequate shelter, many people are forced to seek refuge in parks, sidewalks, parking lots, and other public spaces—often leading to confrontations with police, businesses, and people who live nearby. Instead of funding permanent solutions, the current approach relies heavily on emergency services, hospitals, and the criminal justice system, which the bill’s sponsors argue only worsens the crisis while draining public resources.
The proposed legislation outlines several key provisions:
- It would allow people experiencing homelessness to engage in life-sustaining activities in public spaces—such as sleeping—unless those activities block pedestrian or vehicle traffic and unless alternative indoor shelter is available and offered, including transportation
- It grants people experiencing homelessness the same legal protection for their personal property in public spaces as those storing belongings in private dwellings, safeguarding them from unlawful search and seizure
- It prevents local and state governments from ordering people to move parked vehicles used as shelter—such as cars or RVs—unless they are obstructing traffic or creating a hazard. In such cases, the person must be given the chance to relocate the vehicle before any ticketing or towing
- If life-sustaining activities protected under this bill are cited as legal violations, individuals may use the protections in this bill as an affirmative defense in court
