CONSENT CALENDAR
City of San Bernardino
Request for Council Action
Date: October 7, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Department: City Clerk
Subject: Adoption of Ordinance No. MC-1671 Requiring Notification of Homeless Individuals Drop-offs in the City
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Ordinance No. MC-1671, an Ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adding Chapter 9.50 to Article IV of Title 9 of the San Bernardino Municipal Code, requiring a notification of transport of unhoused persons who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence to the City of San Bernardino.
City Manager's Comments
The City Manager recommends approval.
Executive Summary
Homelessness is a regional issue that requires coordination among cities, public agencies, and service providers. The proposed Ordinance establishes a notification process for organizations and agencies transporting individuals experiencing homelessness into San Bernardino. The process will improve service coordination, promote regional accountability, and help the City manage limited resources. The Ordinance does not prohibit transportation or an individual’s right to travel.
Background
Homelessness is a regional issue because the geographic distribution of homelessness reveals stark disparities, with a significant portion concentrated in populous communities that have homeless shelters and provide supportive services.
In order to fairly address these issues, public agencies need to partner and work together collaboratively to focus on creating long-term solutions instead of disproportionately burdening the cities that provide more robust homeless services than their neighboring public agencies.
When individuals are transported into San Bernardino without coordinated discharge planning or service linkage, the City’s limited shelter beds, outreach capacity, and housing resources are further strained. These circumstances can create a disproportionate service and financial burden on the City and may reduce available resources for individuals for whom San Bernardino has primary responsibility.
Furthermore, a significant percentage of recuperative care patients originate from outside the City, and a substantial portion remain in San Bernardino following discharge without a permanent housing plan. Without coordinated placement, many individuals return to unsheltered homelessness within City limits.
In addition to operational impacts, uncoordinated drop-offs create fiscal impacts. Staff expends a significant amount of resources to provide shelter, rental assistance, housing navigation, case management, and outreach services necessary to stabilize each unsheltered individual. When individuals are transported into the City without coordination and subsequently require services, these costs are borne by City resources and may reduce capacity to serve individuals for whom the City has primary responsibility.
Given the regional nature of homelessness and the limited availability of housing and supportive services, the City seeks to ensure improved coordination when individuals are transported into San Bernardino by other agencies and organizations.
Discussion
The proposed Ordinance would add Chapter 9.50 to the City of San Bernardino Municipal Code, establishing a reporting requirement for transportation of individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence into the City.
The Ordinance does not prohibit transportation of individuals experiencing homelessness into the City. Instead, it establishes a minimal reporting and coordination framework designed to ensure continuity of care, protect public health and safety, and responsibly manage limited municipal resources.
The Ordinance requires that pre-scheduled drop-offs must occur during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday through Saturday) to allow City staff and service providers to coordinate shelter placement, behavioral health services, and housing navigation.
Under the proposed Ordinance, any organization including non-profit organizations or government entity, or employee or agent acting on behalf of an organization or government entity, who intends to transport and drop off an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence within the City must provide written notice (i.e. form of an email, website form, or application) to the City Manager and the Deputy Director of Housing and Homelessness at least 24 hours prior to the drop-off.
The notice must include:
1. The name, address, phone number, and email address of the government entity or other organization providing the notice;
2. The date and time of the notification;
3. The staff person submitting the notification;
4. The full name (first name, last name, and middle initial), date of birth, phone number of the individual being transported and/or dropped off;
5. The location where the person named is being transported from;
6. The reason for transport (Shelter placement, Family Reunification, Medical/Behavioral Health, Other: _____);
7. The name, address, phone number and email of the organization to whom the person being transported is being delivered;
8. Whether the organization receiving the person being transported has confirmed the acceptance of the person prior to being transported;
9. A list of any conditions that the organization receiving the person being transported requires prior to their acceptance of that person;
10.The name and title of the staff person who has agreed to receive the person being transported;
11.The expected date, time, and mode of transportation by which the person is being transported;
12.The names and titles of staff members accompanying the person being transported;
13.Whether the person being transported requires any assistance to maintain Activities of Daily Living (Y/N);
14.The criminal justice status of the person being transported (i.e. Probation/Parole (County:_____);
15.Whether person being transported is required to be listed on Sex Offender Registry as per PC 290 (Y/N); and
16.Whether the person being transported has any Arson Related Restrictions (Y/N).
The proposed Ordinance also requires that any organization or government entity, or any employee or agent acting on behalf of an organization or government entity, who files a notice, as described above, and/or who transports and/or drops-off an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence within the City, must provide a follow-up written notice (i.e. form of an email, website form, or application) to the Deputy Director of Housing and Homelessness at least 24 hours prior to the drop-off.
The follow-up notice must include:
1. The name of the individual that was transported and/or the name of the person for whom the notice, as per the requirements of the notice above, was submitted;
2. The exact drop-off location of the person that was transported;
3. The Date and time of the drop-off;
4. Whether the person being dropped off was successfully placed into services;
5. The name and title of the staff member that accepted the person being dropped-off into their services; and
6. If the person was not transported and/or successfully placed into services, an explanation of why the person was not transported and/or successfully placed, including a description of what happened to the person and whether any follow-up contact has been scheduled.
The Ordinance defines the phrase “lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” consistent with commonly used homelessness definitions, including individuals residing in places not meant for habitation, temporary shelters, certain institutional settings, or exiting detention without a stable residence.
The Ordinance includes explicit exemptions for lawful and necessary activities, including:
• Transportation for booking into jail or custody alternatives; • Transportation to licensed medical facilities;
• Transportation to verified social service or court appointments; • Transportation conducted by the City of San Bernardino within its jurisdiction; and
• Public transit operations.
The purpose of the reporting requirement is to:
• Identify the place of origin of individuals transported into the City of San Bernardino;
• Improve coordination with service providers to reduce the likelihood that individuals are released into unsheltered conditions;
• Facilitate interjurisdictional dialogue regarding shared responsibility and funding; and
• Ensure that limited City shelter and outreach resources are managed effectively.
To mitigate the financial burden and negative impacts associated with uncoordinated drop-offs, it is necessary to establish coordination with service providers and increase access to housing navigation, case management, and behavioral health support.
Research and local experience demonstrate that coordinated service planning significantly reduces the likelihood of individuals returning to chronic homelessness.
The Ordinance regulates institutional transportation practices and does not restrict an individual’s right to travel or relocate. It does not criminalize homelessness and does not prohibit charitable acts or basic survival assistance as outlined in Government Code section 53069.44.
The City of San Bernardino, as a charter city, possesses authority under Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution to enact police, sanitary, and other regulations to protect public health, safety, and general welfare. The proposed Ordinance constitutes a limited administrative reporting requirement intended to address identifiable fiscal and operational impacts while supporting a coordinated and compassionate response to homelessness.
The intent of the Ordinance is threefold:
1. Ensure Coordination and Continuity of Services
Advance notice allows City staff and service providers to confirm shelter availability, behavioral health needs, and housing navigation pathways to prevent individuals from being released into unsheltered conditions without support.
2. Promote Regional Accountability
Reporting enables the City to identify jurisdictions of origin and engage in datadriven dialogue regarding shared responsibility, funding allocation, and regional planning.
3. Protect Public Health and Safety
Individuals transported without a service plan face heightened risks of victimization, untreated medical or behavioral health conditions, and chronic homelessness. Coordinated discharge planning reduces the likelihood that individuals will return to the streets without support.
To ensure compliance with the reporting requirements, the Ordinance establishes an enforcement framework through the City’s existing administrative citation process for each day of non-compliance. The City may pursue additional remedies including declaring a public nuisance, administrative civil penalties, nuisance abatement, civil action, or any other remedy authorized by law, and such remedies are cumulative to each other.
The Ordinance also includes a severability provision to ensure that if any part or provision of the chapter, or its application to any person or circumstance, is found invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of the chapter will continue in full force and effect.
Strategic Goals and Priorities
Approval of the Ordinance aligns with Goal No. 3: Improved Quality of Life. (“a. Reduce the burden of the unsheltered through engagement, collaboration, and partnerships with other entities.”)
The Mayor and City Council’s approval of the Ordinance would potentially help to alleviate the fiscal and operational burdens on City resources from additional homeless individuals being brought into the City in an uncoordinated fashion.
Fiscal Impact
There should be no fiscal impact to the City assuming compliance with the Ordinance.
There will be an undetermined fiscal impact from administrative citations issued and collected for violators of the Ordinance.
Conclusion
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adopt Ordinance No. MC-1671, an Ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, adding Chapter 9.50 to Article IV of Title 9 of the San Bernardino Municipal Code, requiring a notification of transport of unhoused persons who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence to the City of San Bernardino.
Attachments
Attachment 1 Ordinance No. MC-1671
Attachment 2 Ordinance No. MC-1671 Exhibit A
Ward:
All Wards
Synopsis of Previous Council Actions:
N/A