A relocation notice is posted in front of a makeshift shelter at the Earhart Boulevard homeless encampment Jan. 13, 2025. Those living near the corridor were take to a state-operated transitional center in Gentilly. (John Gray/Verite News)

A bill requiring local governments to enforce a ban on sleeping on public property passed through a Louisiana legislative committee Wednesday within the hearing’s final minutes, though housing advocates and groups that serve the homeless say it remains problematic in its current form.  

The proposal, House Bill 619 by Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, would direct local governments to enforce a ban on “public camping” or face possible lawsuits. Local governments could instead designate government-sanctioned encampments – much like the recent state-operated “Transition Center” in New Orleans – in areas where they wouldn’t “materially affect the property value” of homes or businesses.

Any resident or business within 1,000 feet of an illegal public camp, as well as a local district attorney, would be able to sue local governments if they failed to enforce the ban. 

Knox’s bill also requires homeless service providers who receive state funds to provide detailed documentation of their work to municipalities upon request or else lose their funding. Unity of Greater New Orleans, the leading nonprofit serving the city’s homeless population, has drawn scrutiny from Knox and others for not providing more specific data on how it spends federal dollars.

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Knox has repeatedly accused housing nonprofits of waste and decried the “homeless industrial complex.” He pushed for the legislative audit of New Orleans’ Continuum of Care providers earlier this year. It found that the city and Unity spent $216 million between 2019-24, with the majority of funds going toward permanent supportive housing.

The audit also found that shelters need better oversight to ensure they’re meeting minimum health and safety standards. 

When Knox’s measure was brought up Wednesday in the House Committee on Health and Welfare, it was after hearings on two other bills spanned more than three hours. Chairman Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, noted that 11 people wanted to speak against Knox’s bill but wouldn’t have time because the House had already convened on the floor. 

Committee members were given the option to defer Knox’s bill until next week but chose instead to continue the meeting. With limited time, Miller limited the opposition to just three speakers. Two attendees who’ve experienced homelessness were among those who didn’t have the chance to speak.

Knox agreed to amendments suggested by Rep Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which included changes in how the bill defines dwelling structures and extended the timeline for encampment clearing notices. Committee members suggested that the amendments should remove opposition to the bill.

But opponents said the amendments did not allay their concerns, and in some cases even increased the risk of harm. 

‘Serious legal and ethical conflicts’

The state-sanctioned encampments proposed in Knox’s bill parallel Gov. Jeff Landry’s recent transition center in New Orleans, set up at a warehouse in a remote industrial section of the city. Unsheltered people were taken there from encampments downtown just before the Super Bowl. 

Knox toured and praised the site while it was open, but his bill has sparked questions about how money for housing can be spent most efficiently.

Landry’s transition center, which cost about $17 million, ultimately placed 108 people in permanent supportive housing. Since 2023, Unity of Greater New Orleans has spent $2.3 million to permanently house 275 people, according to the audit.

The state spent about $100,000 per person on the warehouse site over 10 weeks, compared to the $20,000 per year it costs to provide housing and support services per person, said Angela Owczarek with the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, a housing rights advocacy group.

A pandemic-era emergency rental assistance program, which ended last year, cost about $3,000 per New Orleans household to prevent homelessness for those facing eviction, Owczarek said. 

Elsa Dimitradis, executive director of Acadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing, testified that she had “serious concerns” about Knox’s bill, particularly the mandate about sharing client information with local governments. She warned the potential violations of privacy and disability laws could jeopardize $93 million in federal funding for housing nonprofits across the state. 

Unity of Greater New Orleans is already suing the state for trying to compel the organization to produce protected information about its clients, such as medical histories and Social Security numbers. 

Dimitradis also testified that the bill as written “appears to allow for open-ended demands at any time without clear standards or limitations,” which is “an operational threat.”

Hannah Adams of the National Housing Law Project argued the bill should provide exceptions to the ban if local governments are actively working to rehouse people. 

“Clearing an encampment when social workers are actively working to rehouse individuals does interfere with their ability to maintain contact and secure long-term housing for their clients,” Adams told the committee. 

The audit, likewise, noted that unexpected NOPD sweeps and state pressure to clear encampments contributed to delays in the city’s rehousing efforts.

Monique Blossom, director of policy at Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, also warned that by directing state officials to inspect group homes, the bill risks violating the federal Fair Housing Act, opening the state to liability. The bill could lead to the shuttering of some group homes, including domestic violence shelters, sober living homes and even homes for seriously ill children who need to stay near hospitals, she said

Donna Paramore, executive director of the Travelers Aid Society of Greater New Orleans, told Illuminator the group is in “strong opposition” to the bill despite the amendments. 

“The framework it proposes still undermines essential safeguards for vulnerable populations,” Paramore said. The issues outlined by Dimitradis “could jeopardize federal funding” and “create serious legal and ethical conflicts,” she added. 

Paramore also noted her nonprofit undergoes an independent financial audit each year and has never had an adverse finding. She said that instead of banning public encampments, the state should expand supportive housing, behavioral health services and trauma-informed care.

Knox dismissed objections at the close of the hearing, calling some “technical and nitpicking.” He rejected Adams’ request for leniency when social workers are actively working on rehousing someone.

“If that language were to be included, they will always be ‘actively working,’” Knox said. 

The representative’s office did not respond to a request for comment after hearing.

Knox’s bill was advanced to the House floor without objection.

Authorities in Louisiana are looking for an inmate who escaped jail for the second time in a year after a member of the public tipped them off Thursday.

Tra’Von Johnson, 19, was awaiting trial in Tangipahoa Parish Jail for his alleged role in a 2022 Hammond-area home invasion where a man was killed and his child was injured, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said it received a call just before 10 p.m. on Thursday from a member of the public who asked if Johnson was still in custody.

“Following an immediate headcount of the jail population and a review of Johnson’s movements throughout the day, it was determined Johnson escaped around 4:30 p.m. when another inmate helped lift him over the perimeter fence,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement, adding that Johnson was the only inmate to have escaped Thursday.

No information was immediately available about anyone who allegedly assisted Johnson in his escape.

This is Johnson’s second escape from the jail in a year, according to the sheriff’s office, who said he was one of four inmates who broke out of the facility “a year ago this month.” Details about Johnson’s 2024 escape were not immediately available.

The sheriff’s office said it called on law enforcement partners for help in the search to find Johnson, alerted victims of his escape and contacted his family members and “known associates.”

Johnson is 5 feet and 5 inches, weighs 120 pounds and is from the Tickfaw area, according to the sheriff’s office. Anyone who sees Johnson or has information on his whereabouts is encouraged to get in touch with the sheriff’s office.

Johnson’s escape isn’t the only prison break that has plagued Louisiana this week.

A week ago in New Orleans, 10 inmates escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center, a realization that was discovered during a routine headcount. Five of the 10 inmates have since been apprehended, with the remaining five still at-large.

Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker at the facility, has been accused of cutting off the water so inmates could pull the toilet from the wall, leading to their escape, according to officials, who also said three employees were placed on leave without pay. It’s not clear whether Williams was one of those employees.

More than 200 law enforcement personnel are assisting in the search for the five who remain at large, officials said.