In Peoria, like many other Illinois towns, being homeless is now a crime

Image via LULA-NFP Peoria

PEORIA—Despite a packed room protesting the decision, Peoria, Ill., joined the growing list of central Illinois towns that have passed ordinances to fine and jail their unhoused residents for sleeping on the street.

Peoria passed the measure 6 to 5, with Mayor Rita Ali joining the opposition. The new rule comes with fines and fees, escalating to jail time for unhoused persons sleeping on the streets. Similar ordinances have already been imposed in surrounding communities, including East Peoria and Pekin.

The Peoria ordinance was only possible because of the right-wing Supreme Court decision to overturn decades of precedent that said cities could not fine or jail homeless people unless they had shelter space available because it was cruel and unusual punishment.

Now, the city’s unhoused population could face jail time of up to 180 days for the “crime” of having no home. This is despite the fact that, as the director of the Homes for All Continuum of Care, Kate Green, stressed there is not enough shelter space even if people wanted to use it. Green and others cautioned the council away from this decision during the public comments period.

“Our emergency shelter system is stretched beyond capacity, and we’ve seen an exponential growth since the pandemic era. Our system really just hasn’t been able to scale with this increased need, even with significant investments through organizations like the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness,” she said.

Currently, the best recent estimate of the situation in Peoria places the number of people experiencing homelessness at 631, with 131 of those being children. Shelter capacity in Peoria, meanwhile, only reaches 497.

Multiple groups were present to protest the ordinance and advocate that council oppose its passage, including JOLT Harm Reduction, LULA NFP, and other organizations from the Continuum of Care. Even Christine Haley, Illinois’s Chief Homelessness Officer, testified before council, saying:

“There is no evidence base that ticketing and jail time for people experiencing homelessness will end homelessness. Where we do have evidence is that investments in housing and supports will end homelessness. We have examples of that in cities across our state, such as in Rockford and Lake County and Suburban Cook County.”

Haley was referencing communities that have reached what service providers call “functional zero homelessness.” What this means in practice is that homelessness is rare, brief, and that those provided support do not return to homelessness.

Council was provided a 140-page document outlining community feedback, data on homelessness, and explaining different options, like an ordinance without jail time. The packet also outlined gaps in housing availability; the city is currently short 147 permanent supportive housing units, for example, and needs to develop more affordable housing options for low-income applicants.

Peoria’s first African American and woman mayor, Dr. Rita Ali joined those opposing the jail penalties. During the first reading of the drafted ordinance, Ali encouraged a compassionate response and provided 19 evidence-based strategies for the council and staff to consider in creating a plan to address outdoor homelessness.

They included measures like empowering street outreach teams to engage camps and meet needs. Ali remained a consistent ally of Peoria’s unhoused residents and housing activists throughout the debate. Prior to the meeting, she was quoted in the Peoria Journal Star as saying, “I want a draft that’s acceptable, I want an ordinance that ultimately provides for housing plus wraparound support services — and I don’t think it can be one without the other.”

On the night of the vote, Ali received repeated applause from the crowd, such as when she questioned how the city would mail a notice of a fine to someone without a fixed address or when her mayoral opponent, Councilman Charles Greyeb, broke ethics rules by campaigning at the meeting.

Despite expert testimony, multiple feedback sessions with community organizations urging a no vote, and opposed community members, the council voted yes.

Greyeb has previously compared unhoused persons to “animals.” In his comments urging the council to pass the ordinance, he fear-mongered about unhoused persons, invoking images of criminality, violence, drug addiction, and mental illness, ending his comments saying, “God willing, we will begin to lance the boil tonight.”

Council members in support of the ordinance repeatedly showed what interests mattered more to them. Councilman Zach Oyler stated, without providing proof, that developers and big businesses were leveraging millions of dollars in investment to get the city to pass this ordinance. Those in favor of jailing unhoused residents, then, apparently voted not for the community they represent but for faceless wealthy out-of-town investors.

Councilman John Kelly went a step further, calling for a tougher approach, ditching escalating fines in favor of sending unhoused residents straight to jail.

Decades of precedent previously prevented cities from passing these kinds of ordinances. Following the Grants Pass decision, the Republican-appointed majority on the Supreme Court changed the law undemocratically. As a result, nearly all of central Illinois has passed ordinances criminalizing homelessness.

In the absence of action by state legislators, these failed approaches will remain and likely proliferate. Gov. J.B Priztker has called for Illinois lawmakers to craft legislation to protect Illinois residents from the incoming Republican administration of Donald Trump.

Illinois Democrats have introduced a bill that, if taken up in Springfield, could override these local ordinances and restore the rights of unhoused Illinois residents. The Decriminalize Homelessness Act HB 5862, introduced by State Rep. Kevin Olickal and State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe. The bill amends the municipal code and prohibits local communities from enforcing such ordinances.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Nicholis Hall

Nicholis Hall writes from Peoria, Illinois.