St. Joseph City Council approves homeless relocation ban, parking ticket changes

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph City Council approved an ordinance making it illegal to move homeless or transient persons to St. Joseph without proper authorization.

The ordinance, proposed by Councilmember Jason Eslinger, passed in a 5-4 vote, with Eslinger mentioning language amendments to the bill during Monday's council meeting.

This bill was on the agenda back in March, but the council decided to postpone the vote to discuss the ordinance further.

During the meeting, Councilmember Jason Eslinger noted that St. Joseph no longer has bus stations and said the language in the ordinance referencing one-way bus tickets needs to be revised. 

The bill would remove the phrase "typically by providing one-way bus tickets" and replace it with "to, regardless of whether such person has any connections to the location."

Eslinger created the ordinance after speaking with community members about the issue.

"The evidence I received was basically complaints from just talking to other people from other community programs," he said. "Law enforcement things like that see these people being dropped off, having an issue with it."

The bill comes after the City, Community Missions and the St. Joseph Police Department entered a partnership to address outdoor encampments.

City officials said they are aware of other cities and communities sending unhoused individuals to St. Joseph, typically by providing one-way bus tickets to address their own homelessness and transient populations.

"From time to time, we’ll receive complaints about other municipalities dropping folks off here. I can’t speak to those individually; we have not encountered any other agency directly doing that," City Manager Mike Schumacher said.

City officials also said they have limited resources when dealing with the homeless population, and resources are strained. 

"I think the community as a whole, our non-profit and everyone involved recognized the challenges associated with the population and that’s not a St. Joseph unique issue," Schumacher said. "That applies across the country and honestly the world."

Back in March, Community Missions made a social media post stating that more than 75% of the 86 homeless people they have surveyed, who are staying at the shelter, have lived in St. Joseph for more than a year.

Rachel Martin, Executive Director of Community Missions, said she wasn't contacted by Eslinger or any council member about this ordinance.

"I didn't have any conversation with any of the council members regarding this ordinance back in March or the one that was recently proposed today was passed," she said.

Eslinger said he did not contact Martin about the ordinance before adding it to the agenda.

"In retrospect, I probably should have, but I did have a lot of facts and evidence from other community members and from the public safety department," he said.

Community Missions also said that claims of people being "bused here (St. Joseph)" are factually incorrect.

"It is factually correct, I have heard from people that has witnessed it firsthand," Eslinger said.

Martin said she does not completely oppose the ordinance but believes it is too broadly written, arguing that a narrower measure would have better addressed what city leaders were trying to accomplish.

"I wish they would have went back and amended it to make it for what they really wanted it to be and not just anybody dropping anybody off," she said. "I think it does do some damage for organizations like ours that really do work with other partners, not even in St. Joseph, Missouri, but outside of Buchanan County, that we send people to all the time when we have a plan put together for the individual that takes many other resources."

Martin adds she gives thanks to the City and County for the hard work they have done in the last year and a half to help the unhoused population in St. Joseph.

"I have to believe, and I know we are working towards something to make homelessness better in our community to help those that are in homeless in our community," she said. "We're working on plans, trying to help and make things better for those individuals and for the individuals that live in the community that sees the effects of homelessness."

Under the ordinance, the City will consider it a criminal misdemeanor for anyone outside of St. Joseph to relocate unhoused and transient individuals to the city.

Currently, the city will be meeting with the St. Joseph Police Department to see what the next steps will be to enforce this ordinance.

For individuals being sent for medical treatment or a court hearing, this law will not apply.

The council also approved an ordinance that will change the fine amounts and procedures for handling parking tickets in St. Joseph.

The city also plans to eliminate its two-tier parking ticket system, which allowed different departments to issue tickets with varying payment amounts and fee schedules.

The St. Joseph Police Department began integrating a new computer service from TBL Systems that will make it easier to write and process tickets with the Municipal Court and the Office of State Courts Administrator.

Most parking tickets, except handicapped parking violations, will include a court date and a $15 fine. The ticket will also include a "pay by" date that will be a few days before the court date.

Drivers can pay the fine in person on the first floor of City Hall or online.

If the ticket is paid by the "pay by" date, the case will be closed. If the ticket is not paid by the deadline, the case will be transferred to Municipal Court for further proceedings.