A new fact sheet created by Prosperity Indiana for the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition calculates the potential costs of Senate Bill 285, Housing Matters, both for individuals and Indiana communities. The fact sheet finds that SB 285 will cost homeless Hoosiers and local court and jail systems an estimated $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 per year, while providing no new resources for housing or homelessness services.
It costs money to run emergency shelters and provide supportive housing, but it costs more to keep vulnerable Hoosiers cycling in and out of county jails. Because Indiana currently underinvests in these services (the small appropriation for supportive housing was cut from the state budget in 2025), SB 285’s shift of those costs to homeless individuals and localities will only further overburden county jails.
The experience of other states can provide specific examples of the costs that Indiana communities can expect to bear if SB 285 becomes law. Our neighbors in Kentucky implemented a ‘public camping ban’ after the passage of HB5 in 2024. According to research from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, 425 Kentuckians without shelter were cited in the first year after the bill’s passage, or approximately one in every five unsheltered persons counted in the state’s Point in Time Count.
The sentencing guidelines in Indiana for a Class C Misdemeanor include a maximum fine of $500 and up to 60 days in jail. The Indiana Sheriffs’ Association estimates the cost of housing an inmate to be between $70 and $75 per day, but given the variation from county to county, we have conservatively estimated a cost of $65 per day. From this we estimate the cost of a Class C Misdemeanor to be $4,874 if fines and penalties are enforced at maximum sentencing guidelines. In the 2025 Point in Time Count, there were just over 4,100 Hoosiers living without shelter.
So what would enforcement of SB 285 really cost unsheltered Hoosiers and their communities if the rollout here is similar to what our neighbors saw in Kentucky?
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% Cited under SB 285
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Unsheltered Persons in 2025 PIT Count
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Total Citations (rounded to nearest whole number)
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Total cost (citations *$4,874)
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|
15%
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4,112
|
617
|
$3,007,258
|
|
20%
|
4,112
|
822
|
$4,006,428
|
|
25%
|
4,112
|
1028
|
$5,010,472
|
If SB 285 becomes law, these costs will ultimately come due to Indiana’s local governments and vulnerable Hoosiers who are least able to afford them. But these scenarios can only account for the costs of the misdemeanor itself. It cannot account for the increased costs communities bear when residents go without shelter, and data consistently show policies like SB 285 do not reduce those numbers, and the threat of police interaction has adverse consequences on the mental and physical health of people without shelter.
Any evaluation of the costs of SB 285 should seriously consider the practical impacts of implementing the legislation that are not currently specified in the bill’s fiscal impact statement. In addition, lawmakers should consider where taxpayer dollars could better be invested in services proven to work. A broader evaluation of the costs of SB 285 should include what it will cost in dollars and cents for families and local jails, in addition to what it will cost in terms of trust of local law enforcement, the costs to local partnerships, and the cost to the quality of life for our most vulnerable neighbors.
Hoosiers in need of housing deserve better than the threat of a misdemeanor. They deserve to receive what we know works. They deserve safe, affordable housing and services that help them get – and stay – housed. It is not just what is more humane and dignified, it’s what will work.
