The claim: “What Austin has done over the past half year is to perpetuate a sense of lawlessness in the city by the homeless … They have removed, seemingly, any legal consequences to the actions where the homeless lie, sleep, where they defecate.” — Gov. Greg Abbott

Abbott, a Republican, made the remark to reporters in early January as he highlighted a fatal stabbing in Austin — part of his ongoing criticism of the city’s policies regarding the homeless.

PolitiFact ruling: False. Austin has taken steps to allow for public camping in more areas, but there are still limitations to where people who are homeless are allowed to sleep and lie in public — and legal consequences in place for violating the policy.

The city has not changed its policies surrounding public urination or defecation — both actions are prohibited.

Discussion: Abbott has been publicly sparring with Austin leaders over the city’s homeless policies since June, when the City Council voted to make public camping (except in parks) legal, as long as a person did not endanger “the health or safety of another person or of themselves; or make usage of such area unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous.”

About PolitiFact PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made.

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The original policy made it legal for people to sit, sleep or panhandle on public sidewalks as long as they didn’t engage in behavior or actions deemed aggressive.

There were questions about the scope of the policy from the beginning. The Travis County Republican Party said the changes gave homeless people more rights than property owners and allowed for “homeless camps on private property, business frontage, and even public sidewalks.” PolitiFact rated that claim False.

People were in violation of the ordinance if they continued camping in an unauthorized area after being notified by law enforcement that they were violating the policy and given “a reasonable opportunity by a law enforcement officer to correct the violating conduct.”

The policy also prohibited people from obstructing areas with “high pedestrian traffic and a high incidence of petty crime related to public disorder.”

The policy did not outline a specific penalty for violating these rules, which means an offense would be a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500.

The ordinance change did not affect city policy related to defecating. Urinating or defecating in public view or “in or on a public street, alley, sidewalk, yard, park, building, structure, plaza, or utility right-of-way or other public place” is a Class C misdemeanor.

In October, the City Council changed its camping ordinance again, adding more specific language defining camping and dictating where camping is permissible.

In early November, state and city officials started enforcing the new ordinance and took steps to clear out camps set up under highway overpasses and in areas near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless.

At least three people were arrested during the initial push to enforce the ordinance. One man was charged with camping in an area not designated for camping and two others were charged with resisting law enforcement activities in enforcing the policy.

Again, urinating or defecating in public are still prohibited actions in Austin.

For more on the research and the conclusion, visit Politifact Texas, www.politifact.com/texas/