City leaders voted 7 to 3 to recriminalize several city ordinances during Monday night's city council meeting despite intense pushback from nonprofit organizations and the community.
A total of six city laws regarding sleeping on benches, public defecation, panhandling, public drinking, public masturbation, and trespassing on a motor vehicle will be arrestable offenses starting March 1. Right now, they are only punishable by civil citation.
The behaviors have always been illegal, but they were decriminalized in 2021 due to a change in state law, which made all city and town ordinances non-criminal. However, municipalities could reinstate chargeable offenses if leaders voted to do so.
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