photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Debris and other possessions are scattered throughout a homeless camp on the banks of the Kansas River in East Lawrence on Dec. 8, 2022.

Less than a week after the City of Lawrence launched an online form to report new homeless campsites around the city, the city has received nearly 70 such reports.

Although the city runs a tent support site for the homeless in North Lawrence, the emergence of unsanctioned campsites has been an ongoing controversy as the number of homeless people in the area has continued to rise. As the Journal-World recently reported, the homeless population of Lawrence and Douglas County has increased by 51% in one year, according to a federally mandated count.

The camp reporting tool, which began operating Wednesday, is intended to be used by community members who are “aware of a person who is currently camping and may need shelter.” The form asks respondents to provide the closest available address to the location, the date they first noticed the campsite and a description of the campsite and its occupants.

Cori Wallace, a spokesperson for the city, told the Journal-World that 68 such reports had been received as of Monday with 25 sites identified.

The city has said that the process after such a report is made is that city staff will go to the area indicated on the form to make contact with any individuals camping there and discuss available services in the community. Staff members will give a minimum of 24 hours’ notice to vacate the area if an individual is camping in a location where camping isn’t allowed. If they haven’t cleared the area within the designated time, a member of the city’s homeless programs team will meet with the individual and give them another opportunity to move.

After that second interaction, the individual may be given a citation for illegal camping and be removed, along with their belongings, if they still don’t voluntarily vacate the area. The homeless programs team will hold onto belongings for up to 30 days in the event the owner wants to retrieve them, as the Journal-World has reported.

The city effort to curb illegal overnight camping comes after city leaders like Lawrence Mayor Lisa Larsen and other community members have voiced concerns about why the city isn’t enforcing its no-camping ordinance.