Cities in the Phoenix area are rethinking whether they can legally arrest someone simply for sleeping on the streets.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in September that the city of Boise, Idaho, had no right to cite people for violating its "urban camping" law. The law is unconstitutional, the court said, and enforcement amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Ninth Circuit rulings also typically apply to Arizona and eight other western states.

In response, some Valley cities are considering whether their own urban camping laws are constitutional, and if and how they can still enforce them.

Cities have moved forward in starkly different ways. Tempe stopped enforcing its law, Glendale changed its law, Surprise is working on different changes and Phoenix is keeping its law the same. It's unclear whether other cities have acted.

The main conclusion the court reached is that governments can't enforce a law that prohibits homeless people from sleeping on the streets when no alternative shelter is available.

"As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors," the court wrote, "the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter."

Limited shelter beds in Phoenix

There are limited shelter beds in the Valley, and the main emergency shelter in Phoenix is often full.

More than 1,000 people sleep unsheltered in Phoenix on a given night, and hundreds are homeless in other regions of the Valley.

Christina Estes-Werther, general counsel for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, said the court's opinion will make it more difficult, but not impossible, for cities to enforce their urban camping laws. Cities will need to come up with a system in which police officers can be sure that shelter is available before they enforce the law.

But for cities that don't have shelters within their city limits, Tristia Bauman, senior attorney at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, said there may nowbe a legal argument that they shouldn't be enforcing their laws at all.

"It will only be a matter of time before someone challenges that as unconstitutional," Bauman said.

Law used as a last resort

In many cities, including Glendale, Peoria and Phoenix, when police or social service workers encounter homeless individuals, they first offer shelter and services.

Arrests are made only as a last resort, often after multiple warnings, officials said.

Even so, having urban camping laws on the books has given Valley cities legal backing as they tried to address issues with homeless individuals and encampments.

Tempe, for example, arrested 9 only people for urban camping from January to July. But the city cited the law as it tried to address a homeless encampment in Papago Park that residents were upset about a few years ago.

Urban camping is still prohibited in Tempe's portion of Papago Park, because it's a preserve and cities are allowed to prohibit certain activities in preserves, said Nikki Ripley, a city spokeswoman.

Peoria officials said they arrest homeless people after multiple contacts, sometimes thinking it might encourage them to get help.

And Phoenix declared it illegal earlier this year for homeless to set up camp on a key parcel in Roosevelt Row after an outcry from nearby residents.

City responses vary

In response to the Circuit Court decision, Tempe said in a news release that it believes its law is "unenforceable as long as there is no shelter space available to homeless individuals in the city."

The only emergency shelter in Tempe is the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program, which provides shelter to 35 to 40 individuals. The city estimates there are between 600 to 1,100 homeless people living in Tempe.

Although the city will no longer enforce its ordinance, its news release detailed other ways it is addressing homelessness, including by building relationships with the homeless and trying to increase housing options.

A few West Valley cities still plan to enforce their laws, even though there are no emergency shelters in the West Valley. Meanwhile, homelessness there is growing.

When police offer shelter to homeless individuals in these cities, the most likely placement is Central Arizona Shelter Services in Phoenix, which has 350 beds

The Glendale City Council voted unanimously Oct. 23 to add a line to its urban camping law that says no criminal sanction can be imposed against people sleeping outdoors on public property "when no alternative shelter is available to them."

Although this change essentially watered down the city's law, it's unclear if and how this might change enforcement.

At the meeting, Glendale's Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander told council members that the city can still enforce the law if there is shelter available and the person does not cooperate. He did not say how the city would determine if space is available.

Enforcement a challenge

Surprise believes it will be harder to enforce its law now, said Seth Dyson, director of the city's human service and community vitality department.

The city enacted its law in July, and hadn't yet arrested anyone for urban camping by the time the Circuit Court opinion came out, Dyson said. At that point, the city put enforcement on hold until the council could consider changes.

Surprise amended its law to explain that shelter space shouldn't be considered available if there are restrictions on who can use the space.

VALDEZ:Maybe this ruling will make homelessness a problem cities can't ignore

This is because, in its opinion, the court decided that just because there is space available doesn't necessarily mean the law can be enforced, because of other restrictions shelters might have for who can use their beds and when. An example in the case was of a shelter that required clients to participate in religious practices.

The Valley has several shelters, with about 800 beds for individuals and 260 spaces for families. But CASS is one of just a few that accepts most everyone, regardless of circumstance.

Dyson said restrictions on shelters across the Valley limit the city's options.

CASS doesn't have restrictions, but space there is limited, said Lisa Glow, the organization's chief executive officer.

Every month, the organization has to turn away about 275 people who are looking for shelter, Glow said. The shelter is full more than 90 percent of nights, she said.

Glow said the solution is not these ordinances, but to "prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place."

The state needs to dedicate more funding to the issue, she said, and cities need to help CASS fight for the funding.

"Aren't enough alternatives"

Bauman, with the national law center, said she hopes cities will take this opportunity to "push back on the political pressure to just throw police on the problem, which never works."

Instead, she said, cities should put in place policies and funding targeted at solving the affordable housing crisis.

"The reality is, there aren't enough alternatives for people living outside," she said.

To enforce their laws, Estes-Werther said Valley cities will need to decide on processes and procedures for how police will identify available shelter space.

"It would take a lot of coordination," she said.

Bauman said rather than spend the time and money figuring out how they can enforce urban camping laws, cities should focus on identifying places for people to live.

Reach reporter Jen Fifield at jen.fifield@azcentral.com or 602-444-8763. Follow her on Twitter @JenAFifield.