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St. Joseph City Council Passes Homeless Relocation Ban

The St. Joseph City Council approved two major ordinances during its legislative session on Monday, June 22, 2026. The council passed a controversial ban on unauthorized homeless relocation from outside municipalities and overhauled the city’s municipal parking ticket system to establish a unified digital fine structure.

Council Narrowly Passes Homeless Relocation Restrictions

In a narrow 5-4 vote, the council approved a new measure making it a criminal misdemeanor for outside individuals, organizations, or municipalities to intentionally relocate unhoused or transient persons to St. Joseph without formal authorization.

The ordinance, sponsored by Councilmember Jason Eslinger, was originally introduced in March but postponed for further review. Ahead of the final vote, Eslinger amended the language of the bill to remove the phrase “typically by providing one-way bus tickets” and replaced it with broader terms preventing relocation “regardless of whether such person has any connections to the location.”

Eslinger stated the ordinance was prompted by continuous reports from community members, local programs, and law enforcement regarding unhoused individuals being dropped off in the city by outside entities looking to offload their own transient populations. According to city officials, these unauthorized drop-offs strain local resources, which are already heavily extended through an existing partnership between the City, the St. Joseph Police Department, and Community Missions to manage local outdoor encampments.

The ordinance faced some pushback from local advocates. Rachel Martin, Executive Director of Community Missions, noted that she was not consulted prior to the bill’s introduction and expressed concern that the broad language could unintentionally hinder legitimate, collaborative resource-sharing with partner organizations outside of Buchanan County. Data previously shared by Community Missions indicated that more than 75% of individuals surveyed at their shelter had resided in St. Joseph for over a year, challenging the narrative that a majority of the local unhoused population arrived via outside busing programs.

The law includes strict exemptions for individuals arriving in St. Joseph specifically for scheduled medical treatments or mandatory court hearings. City administrators are currently meeting with the St. Joseph Police Department to determine the enforcement protocols for the new misdemeanor classification.

Parking Citation System Unified Under New Digital Framework

In separate legislative action, the city council voted to completely restructure the fine amounts and administrative procedures for handling municipal parking tickets.

The city is eliminating its legacy two-tier parking system, which historically allowed different municipal departments to issue citations with conflicting payment amounts, deadlines, and fee structures. Under the newly approved ordinance, the St. Joseph Police Department will integrate a unified computer service provided by TBL Systems. This platform directly connects local ticketing officers with the Municipal Court and the Office of State Courts Administrator.

The new system simplifies the penalty structure:

  • Unified Fine: Most standard parking violations will carry a flat $15 fine, entirely removing the previous multi-tiered fee system. Handicapped parking violations remain excluded from this flat rate and will continue to carry separate penalties.

  • Streamlined Deadlines: Each newly issued ticket will feature a distinct “pay by” date, set a few days prior to an assigned municipal court date.

  • Payment Pathways: Drivers can resolve the citation immediately by paying the $15 fee online or in person on the first floor of City Hall.

If the fine is settled by the designated “pay by” deadline, the case is automatically closed. Unpaid citations will bypass standard administrative warnings and transfer directly to the Municipal Court for formal legal proceedings.

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