Butte Silver Bow Judiciary Committee Meeting on Homelessness and Park Camping - September 11, 2025
Butte Silver Bow Judiciary Committee Meeting on Homelessness and Park Camping - September 11, 2025
The Judiciary Committee of Butte Silver Bow reconvened on September 11, 2025, to continue a discussion first opened on September 10 regarding homelessness, park camping, and public safety. The conversation centered on enforcement challenges, legal constraints, and potential solutions, with commissioners, the sheriff, the county attorney, and a representative from the ACLU of Montana weighing in.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Henry Seaton (ACLU of Montana) stated that while the U.S. Supreme Court's Grants Pass decision permits some camping bans, Montana's Constitution provides greater protections—specifically the right to individual dignity and the right to pursue life's basic necessities, which includes seeking shelter outdoors. He warned that these protections could lead to costly litigation for Butte if the city enacts overly restrictive ordinances.
- Commissioner Healy referenced a local resident, John, who reported that 85 police calls were made to Emma Park over a year, many of which he attributed to homeless individuals. The list of calls included welfare checks, suspicious persons, disturbances, and illegal shooting.
Discussion Items
- Commissioner Healy expressed concern that the community is minimizing the experiences of residents living near parks where homeless camping occurs. She read a list of proposed solutions: expand shelter access, warming centers, transitional housing, safe camping zones outside parks, and deploy service outreach teams with enforcement. She also quoted a statement: "No single approach will resolve the issue. A balanced strategy combining consistent enforcement, swift cleanup, and preventative measures with expanded outreach and long-term housing solutions offers the best path forward."
- Commissioner Frederickson (Parks Director) noted that all parks have no-camping signs, but enforcement is difficult. He discussed plans to thin willows at Father Sheehan Park to improve visibility and reduce hidden camping.
- Sheriff Lester explained that enforcement is complaint-based and that police respond to calls, but arrests are not made on every call. He emphasized that homeless individuals have the same constitutional rights as housed residents, and that it is not legal to simply relocate them. He noted that 85 calls to Emma Park indicates significant enforcement effort, but many calls do not result in arrests.
- Commissioner Thatcher questioned how to fund the proposed solutions, noting that the county faces budget constraints. Commissioner Healy responded that she is still working on funding and plans to meet with County Attorney Ann Ruth.
- Commissioner Callahan argued that some individuals are "unhousable"—they have been placed in housing but destroyed it, requiring supervision. She pushed back against the idea that homelessness is solely a housing problem.
- Commissioner Anderson delivered a lengthy, impassioned statement calling for action, criticizing the state and federal governments for not addressing root causes (education, mental health, addiction). He suggested that police should be more aggressive in enforcement and urged the community to pressure state legislators. He also apologized for previous rudeness to Commissioner Healy.
- Deputy County Attorney Shay confirmed that the Montana Constitution does provide greater protections, including privacy rights, and that any new ordinance must be careful not to create a debtor's prison or violate individual rights.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Hold in Abeyance: Commissioner Healy moved to hold the matter in abeyance pending her meetings with County Attorney Ann Ruth to discuss legal options and limitations. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously (voice vote, all in favor).
- No other action was taken. The committee will revisit the issue after Commissioner Healy's discussions with the County Attorney.
Meeting Transcript
We're just waiting for Commissioner Anderson in case anybody's wondering. He'll be out momentarily. All right, welcome back, everybody. This is uh the Judiciary Committee meeting for September 10th reconvening. Um Commissioner Healy, you have the floor. So what I was saying is that um there's concerns that um there's a minimizing experience of people who are having to live with crime around their neighborhoods with the homeless. Uh included live in that name kind of a neighborhood on Iron Street. So consider yourself blessed that you don't have it happening in front of your house and in your alleys and on your in your neighborhood. I'm just uh was lucky enough where being single I didn't worry about kids, so I I fought the fight, including asking drug addicts to leave when they were obviously selling in the alleys. Um I did have a question for Mr. Fredericson, Director Frederickson. Are the no camping rules um for all the parks in Butte? Or is it just certain parks have 'em? Signs that say no overnight camping. Um thank you for the question, Commissioner Healy. Uh no, I believe there's signs in every park that says no camping. Okay. Commissioner Healy, follow-up. Um so yeah, my um then I'm wondering um, then why does it continue to happen? You know, I mean, because of the dangers that it's causing to some neighborhoods. Um I answer that. Yeah, sure. I would say because people are st still unhoused when they get rooted out of a park. Same reason um people drive forty-five on Harrison Avenue with dozens of signs that say the speed limit is thirty-five. I just I just don't think the answer is that black and white. Um Commissioner Frederickson, if you wanted to add anything. I mean, we really don't have any minus some of the parks, uh, you know, I've I've spoken with some of the um residents around Emma Park, and I I've said, you know, we'll work on better lighting, particularly in the the pavilion. Um, but if you see them in their camp at 10 o'clock, they're breaking the law, so you should call law enforcement. Um as far as Father Sheehan, I mean there was Father Sheehan's uh a really dense natural park. Um so once they once they were staying in the willows, it was really hard to to see them, and then it just kept growing and growing. And so um a part of the the plan that we have moving forward within the parks department is um thinning out those willows, um, which needs to happen anyway. It's you can't even see the creek to enjoy the creek. So um, but we'll need to to work with the state agencies to make sure that we're following all the proper procedures for removing willows and along the the watershed. Um but that's something that we're we're gonna plan on doing uh this fall. Thank you, Mr. Fredericson. Um Commissioner Thatcher. Thank you, Chairwoman Shay. I have a couple questions for Commissioner Healy. Commissioner Healy, did you say that it was 85 calls in the Emma? That is what uh that was reported to me from uh John who came and spoke several times from Emma from the Emma Park area. I don't know, he he sent me the copy. I don't know if I successfully copied all of them, but you can have a copy of it if you would like. This is what he emailed to me. Thank you. I guess I you know, I eighty-five calls, I'm sure that's probably a lot um in a year. Sheriff, the date the dates are on there. It's the same copy. Yes. Could you answer that?
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