A bill passed by the Idaho Senate could open a new chapter on how Boise polices its unhoused residents and sleeping in public. Sixteen local faith leaders, the city’s police department, and advocates for the homeless community all say it would be an expensive mistake, and an unjust one.
The Debate Over SB 1141, a New Public Camping Ban
SB 1141 would implement a “statewide ban on unauthorized public camping or sleeping,” and allow anyone “adversely affected” by public camping or sleeping to sue for relief and damages.
Some owners of businesses near the Corpus Commons and Interfaith Sanctuary shelters agreed with the Republican senators, all of whom except two voted in favor of the bill and said it offered a compassionate encouragement for unhoused Boiseans to seek support and would make the area safer.
The Boise Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter that requires guests to participate in religious programming, supports SB 1141, saying its primary concern is the safety of unhoused people sleeping outside, in tents, or in cars.
Interfaith Sanctuary director Jodi Peterson-Stigers disagreed, telling Hey Boise: “So we’re going to move them to jail, separate them from their families? Write tickets and incarcerate them? How is that kind?”
The claim that SB 1141 offers a compassionate and kind approach to homelessness was key in the arguments of the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Codi Galloway (R-Meridian).
Police, Faith Leaders Weigh In
Another supporter, Sen. Dan Foreman (R-Moscow), said his city’s anti-camping ordinance helps law enforcement.
But Boise Police Department Chief Chris Dennison told Senators, “This bill would damage the department’s relationship with the community and the service providers for the homeless.”
Local faith leaders are rallying Idahoans to contact their legislators and tell them to vote against SB 1141.
“When our communities are free to focus on shelter and supportive services, they spend less on emergency healthcare, policing and incarceration. Investing in caring for the unhoused is not just compassionate — it’s fiscally responsible,” they wrote in an opinion to the Idaho Statesman.
This week, BoiseDev reported that Sen. Galloway’s husband is the president of an interior design firm with an office on Americana Blvd., a block away from Interfaith Sanctuary and Corpus Commons’ shelters.
