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Texas counties and cities are being told they need to enforce the statewide public homeless camping ban. Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter today warning counties and cities would be sued if they didn't clear camps. They also said municipalities could lose state grants. A new law banning public camps went into effect last week.
"Local entities like yours should uphold the rule of law by enforcing this public camping ban," reads the letter. "In the coming months, we will be monitoring local entities across Texas to ensure compliance with House Bill 1925. We trust that you will begin enforcing the public camping ban in good faith. Doing so will achieve our shared goal of delivering improved services for the homeless and safer communities for everyone."
Read the full letter to the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Municipal League. The same letter was sent to the cities of Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, and Plano.