Winter Haven Responds to Attorney General’s Violation Notice

Dear Associate Deputy Attorney General Weilhammer:

As you know from our prior informal electronic correspondence, we serve as City Attorneys for the City of Winter Haven, Florida (“Winter Haven” or “City”). We thank both you and Attorney General Uthmeier for your courtesies and for forwarding us copies of the citizen complaint materials and supporting information received by your office in late October 2025. Please accept this letter as a formal response, on behalf of the City and its officials, to the allegations and assertions raised by the citizen in her complaint and by your office in your January 6, 2026, letter.

To begin, Winter Haven expressly denies that it has allowed its parks, sidewalks, and public spaces to be taken over by homeless individuals. Statistics produced by the Florida Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) indicate that homelessness is on the decline in Winter Haven and its surrounding area. See, e.g., Florida’s Council on Homelessness, 2025 Council on Homelessness Annual Report at 19-20 (Jun. 2025) (noting (a) the point-in-time homeless count in Polk County, Florida, reduced 38.94% year over year to 737 in 2025; (b) the sheltered population reduced 7.07% year over year; and (c) the unsheltered population reduced 65.05% year over year). These reductions are part of a generally observed set of statewide trends which both DCF and the City attribute to Florida’s targeted interventions, increased funding, and continued implementation of evidence-based practices. See id. at 1.

At the local government level, these practices and implementations include:

• Parks: Municipal law in Winter Haven prohibits individuals from “set[ting] up tents, shacks, or any other temporary shelter for the purpose of overnight camping”; See § 15-285(14), Code of Ord. of the City of Winter Haven, Fla. (“City Code”);
• Sidewalks and Pedestrian Rights of Way: Municipal law prohibits individuals from: (1) sitting or lying “upon a publicly owned sidewalk” during daylight hours “in such a manner as to obstruct the free passage of persons” and (2) sitting or lying “upon the entryways to or exitways from a publicly owned building” when open “in such a manner as to obstruct the free passage of persons entering or exiting such building”; See § 15-420, City Code; and
• Public Camping, Generally: County law, which our office has opined is applicable within the City’s corporate limits, prohibits individuals from: (1) “[r]esiding or sleeping in a temporary shelter outdoors, sleeping outdoors, or cooking over an open flame or fire outdoors with the intent to remain overnight” on “public property, including parks, streets, rights-of-way, or any improved or unimproved areas” and (2) storing “camp facilities or camp paraphernalia” such as tents, huts, “tarpaulins, cots, sleeping bags, mattresses, hammocks,” cooking devices, camp stoves, and grills, “with the intent to use them for camping or overnight habitation.” See §§ 10.8-152 and 10.8-153, Code of Ord., Polk County, Fla.

When combined with ordinary enforcement tools provided by the Florida Legislature, such as laws criminalizing loitering and trespassing on real property (See §§ 810.09(1), 856.021(1), Fla. Stat. (2025)), the Baker Act (See §§ 394.451, et seq., Fla. Stat. (2025)), and the Marchman Act (See §§ 397.301, et seq., Fla. Stat. (2025)), we think it clear, and believe you and the Attorney General will agree after review, that the elected officials and the citizens of the City and the State have provided City administrators and City police officers with full and complete authority to protect the City’s physical assets, public spaces, and outdoor public recreational facilities from the negative community effects of vagrancy.

The importance of this full and complete delegation to the City’s administrators and officers cannot be understated. In today’s legal environment, the standard by which members of the public and the courts judge the City’s government is whether or not the City and its staff take all reasonable actions, within the limits of the City’s governmental authority, to prevent overnight camping and sleeping on public property, the grounds of public buildings, and public rights-of-way under the City’s jurisdiction. See §§ 125.0231(1)(b), (2), and (4)(b)3., Fla. Stat. (2025). Winter Haven accepts this responsibility and is pleased to report to you and the Attorney General that when City police observe, or receive notification of, a potential or an alleged public camping situation, police officers take immediate action to address the issue, including removing the person or the persons from the property and scene, clearing any litter that may be left behind, and sanitizing the site for the safety and health of the general public.

For example, in the past eight (8) months, the Winter Haven Police Department (“WHPD” or “Department”) has cleared twenty-five (25) unlawful overnight camping sites where two (2) or more individuals were engaged in either unauthorized use of private property or illegal overnight public camping and sleeping. For your records, we attach a list of affected real estate parcels to this response as Exhibit “A” and we would be happy to facilitate production of municipal police records documenting these law enforcement actions for review by the Department of Legal Affairs at your or Attorney General Uthmeier’s request. This targeted, results-oriented enforcement effort has and will continue to be pursued by the members of WHPD’s intervention Strategic Response Unit, established by the Department in October 2024, all of whom are sworn law enforcement officers assigned to proactively patrol specific geographic areas of the City, build relationships with community members and local business owners, and identify areas of concern for future focused law enforcement activities.

Further, and turning to the finer details of the complaint filed with your office, the City reports the following:

• On April 5, 2025, a photograph was taken by the complainant at 11:38 A.M. of a male subject sleeping at Kiwanis Park, a public City outdoor recreation facility. Police computer aided dispatch (“CAD”) notes indicate that the complainant notified WHPD of the situation at 11:39 A.M. and a patrol unit reported to the scene minutes later at 11:44 A.M. The scene was cleared at 12:01 P.M. and the male subject was identified, arrested, and taken to the Polk County Jail for trespassing. (Note: This is the incident depicted by the upper left photograph on page 2 of your January 6, 2026 letter.)
• On April 6, 2025, a photograph was taken by the complainant at 12:42 P.M. of a male subject sleeping under a tree on private property adjacent to the S.R. 542 Central Avenue right-of-way. CAD notes for this encounter indicate that the citizen complainant notified WHPD of the situation at 12:48 P.M. and a patrol unit reported to the scene minutes later at 12:53 P.M. The scene was cleared at 12:56 P.M. and officers report: (1) that the male subject was not found under the tree sleeping but was, instead, found walking and kicking dirt; and (2) the male subject did not appear to be in violation of ordinances or eligible for Baker Act detention. (Note: This is the incident depicted by the upper right photograph on page 2 of your January 6, 2026 letter.)
• On June 20, 2025, a photograph was taken by the complainant at 9:30 P.M. of a subject wrapped in a blanket on the public sidewalk at or near the intersection of Avenue A Southeast and 1st Street South. CAD notes for this incident indicate that the citizen complainant notified WHPD of the situation at 9:27 P.M., and that a patrol unit arrived at the scene at 9:31 P.M. The scene was cleared at 9:34 P.M. and the subject, who did not appear to be in medical crisis, was educated by officers on laws and ordinances relating to public camping and sleeping and sitting or lying on public pedestrian rights of way. (Note: This is the incident depicted by the lower left photograph on page 2 of your January 6, 2026 letter.)
• On August 17, 2025, a photograph was taken by the complainant at 5:00 P.M. of multiple subjects sleeping at Kiwanis Park. CAD notes reveal that the citizen complainant notified WHPD of the situation at 5:03 P.M. and that a patrol unit arrived at the scene at 5:18 P.M. Upon arrival, officers found one person sleeping and two persons sitting on benches. The scene was cleared at 5:22 P.M. and police advised the sleeping individual on laws and ordinances relating to public camping and sleeping and gave the individual a warning. (Note: This is the incident depicted by the lower right photograph on page 2 of your January 6, 2026, letter.)

For your records, we attach copies of these photographs, together with CAD notes excerpts and brief summaries of activity, to this response as Composite Exhibit “B”.

Continuing:

• Earlier in the day of August 17, 2025, WHPD responded within six (6) minutes to a call, made by the complainant, of a different subject sleeping on a table in one of the pavilions of Kiwanis Park. When officers arrived, they located the subject sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette in violation of the City’s local clean park space air ordinance. The subject was educated regarding applicable laws and was given a trespass warning. (Note: This is the photograph you have on file entitled “8-17-2025 152pm.jpg”.)
• On August 3, 2025, WHPD responded to a call, made by the complainant, of a subject sleeping on private property. Noting that a trespass authorization for the parcel was on file with the Department, officers identified the subject and gave the subject a trespass warning to not return. (Note: This is the photograph you have on file entitled “8-3-2025 1216am.jpg”.)
• Department records indicate that the complainant called WHPD at 12:56 A.M. on August 20, 2025 to report an apparent sleeping site on private property. Notes for the incident indicate that the complainant called back two (2) minutes later and cancelled the call. Importantly, WHPD proactively obtained a trespass authorization for the subject parcel. (Note: This is the photograph you have on file entitled “homeless left in homes.jpg”.)
• Department records indicate that WHPD contacted a representative of the owner of a structure located on private property at 232 Avenue B Northeast and worked with the representative to board up and secure the property as a deterrent to future unauthorized transient use. In addition, the structure is the subject of a pending City code enforcement action wherein the City has obtained, with the property owner’s consent, a demolition order for the structure in order to fully address the public safety issues presented by this matter. The City expects demolition to occur soon. (Note: This is represented by the photographs you have on file entitled “homeless mess in hugos back house.jpg” and “inside hugo homeless.jpg”.)
• No calls for service were identified for pictures alleged by the complainant to be taken on April 9, 2025, September 5, 2025, October 8, 2025, October 14, 2025, or October 23, 2025. Notably, Department call records indicate that the complainant did not call or notify police of any observations she may have made in September 2025 or October 2025.

For your records, we attach copies of these photographs, together with CAD notes excerpts and brief summaries of activity, to this response as Composite Exhibit “C”.

Respectfully, we believe that the foregoing information and explanations conclusively refute the complainant’s allegations, and provide you with a reasonable basis to determine that the City has not authorized or otherwise allowed homeless individuals to regularly engage in public camping and sleeping and thus has not violated Florida’s public camping and sleeping law. See § 125.0231(2), Fla. Stat. (2025).

The City is willing to provide the Office of the Attorney General with sworn affidavits and testimony, if any should be necessary, attesting to the truth of these statements and the City is prepared to vigorously defend any action filed for injunctive relief under Section 125.0231(4), Florida Statutes (2025).

We would be remiss if we failed to point out that the complainant’s allegations appear to rely on a fundamental misunderstanding of Florida’s public camping and sleeping law. The public camping and sleeping law, adopted in 2024, prohibits counties and cities from authorizing or allowing individuals to engage in overnight camping and sleeping on public property or to camp and sleep on public property with the intent to remain overnight. See § 125.0231(2), Fla. Stat. (2025). Contrary to the complainant’s understanding of the law, which ignores the Legislature’s express statutory definitions, it is not illegal for a person to simply fall asleep in public; instead a person only violates the law when he or she camps or sleeps overnight in a public place, or intends to camp or sleep overnight in a public place as evidenced by the presence of a tent or temporary shelter, bedding or pillows, or the storage of personal belongings. Likewise, a county or city does not violate the law when one or more of its citizens simply falls asleep in public; rather, a county or city violates the law when it consciously and with purpose authorizes or permits one or more citizens to camp and sleep overnight in public or use tents, temporary shelters, bedding, pillows, or store personal belongings overnight. Consistent with the statutory intent and the express language of Section 125.0231(2) of the Florida Statutes, we contend that the vast majority of the complainant’s supporting documentation exculpates the City from the complainant’s claims. To illustrate, seven (7) of the complainant’s eleven (11) sleeping photographs appear to have been taken during daytime with no evidence or indicia that the subjects were engaged in, or even intended to engage in, overnight camping and sleeping. And three (3) of the complainant’s eleven (11) sleeping photographs appear to depict sleeping on private property, which is conduct beyond the City’s ability to legally restrain, absent a blanket trespass authorization or facts and circumstances indicating probable cause of some other violation of state or local law. Combined with the City police department’s immediate and prompt responses after notification, all of which we have articulated above, we think it both shown and demonstrated that the City is fully compliant with Section 125.0231(2), Florida Statutes (2025) and other applicable law.

Winter Haven enjoys an excellent reputation with the various agencies and offices of the State of Florida and was recently presented significant economic development grants by the Governor and the Florida Department of Commerce. In light of the foregoing information we have provided, the City respectfully requests that the Office of the Attorney General confirm that the City does not have to take any actions to cure the complainant’s alleged violations of Florida’s public camping and sleeping law.

In an effort to be complete and thorough, we include with this correspondence the City’s narrative, drafted by WHPD officers, regarding that portion of the complainant’s letter which claims that the City has not been responsive. The City contends these were directed to her. We attach the same, together with a copy of WHPD Report No. 25-5544, to this response as Exhibit “D”.

Winter Haven is not aware of applications to DCF to designate public spaces in Polk County for public camping and public sleeping. Notably, the 2024 public camping and sleeping law does not allow cities, like Winter Haven, to file applications with DCF; commissions power the only designating public property to members of the public for camping and sleeping. See § 125.0231(3), Fla. Stat. (2025) (designating county commissions as the only entities capable of designating public property to be used for public camping and sleeping).

To close, Winter Haven’s parks, sidewalks, and public spaces are available to everyone for use, regardless of socio-economic status, and persons may lawfully enjoy ordinary passive activities, such as napping under a park tree, reading a book on a park bench, or even falling asleep on a public bench after enjoying a picnic or meal-to-go. Homelessness, or the state of being unhoused, is not in and of itself a crime, nor does it, in and of itself, give an individual violating local or state laws. The City and its police department respect the constitutional rights of all individuals to be in and use public spaces during appropriate hours, but not limited to the City’s parks and in the City’s appropriate ordinance, the County’s general prohibition against overnight public camping and sleeping as well as Section 125.0231(2), Florida Statutes (2025), and general state conduct laws mentioned above criminalizing loitering and trespassing.

The City is without governmental power to control the movements and individual decisions made by members of its citizenry, but, as we have shown above, when City police observe, and are notified, that an individual is engaging in illegal camping or sleeping, or is shown to be housed or unhoused, the City is committed to appropriate and swift intervention, within the bounds of federal, state, and local laws. The City’s ability to promote these important public safety goals is aided and assisted by the Florida Attorney General and thus the City’s statutory framework is empowered to enforce and thus

Thank you for your kind attention to this response and please let us know how we and the City can be of further assistance to you and to Attorney General Uthmeier.