A person and a dog lay in the grass outside the City-County Building in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
The Utah Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Salt Lake City is not violating nuisance laws as homeless camping persists on its streets.
The ruling upholds a decision by a lower court dismissing the lawsuit filed by a group of nine residents and business owners in September 2023, alleging that by not adequately enforcing anti-camping laws against homeless individuals, city officials allowed public and private nuisances to persist across the city for years.
The high court’s decision dismisses the case with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs are unable to refile any similar claims.
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Ilan Wurman, an attorney with Tully Bailey, the law firm representing the residents and businesses, said in a statement that the decision leaves concerned Salt Lake City residents with just one remedy — the ballot box.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling that the City may allow encampments on public property — and there is nothing residents can do about it — makes Utah unique among the fifty states. It overturns a century of public nuisance law. Now it’s up to the voters whether they will insist that Salt Lake City fulfill its basic functions to protect its residents,” Wurman wrote.
The Utah Supreme Court’s decision leaned on the public duty doctrine, which it called “a crucial protection” for governments against civil liability as they do their jobs, including precluding claims of “failure to perform a public duty.”
“We acknowledge the difficult realities that Residents are experiencing due to the actions unsheltered people are taking on and near their properties,” Chief Justice Matthew Durrant wrote in the court’s conclusion. “But our sincere sympathy to those difficulties cannot dictate how we apply the law.”
Following the decision, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall expressed appreciation for the ruling.
“Salt Lake City appreciates the Court’s decision, which reaffirms that complex policy matters are best addressed by locally elected officials and policy experts, not the courts. We recognize the very real impacts chronic homelessness can have on residents, businesses, and unsheltered individuals alike, and we remain committed above all to responding with compassion and accountability,” the spokesperson said in a written statement.
The plaintiffs in the case own property in Salt Lake City’s downtown, Central City, and Ballpark neighborhoods. In their complaint, they accused the city of “inviting and fostering vagrancy, public camping, public urination, public defecation, and the public use of illegal drugs (including fentanyl and heroin) on its property, to the detriment of several neighborhoods and businesses.”
The number and condition of unsheltered people in the state’s capital city has also drawn the ire of Gov. Spencer Cox and Republican legislative leaders, who earlier this year mandated that Mendenhall prepare a public safety plan to address crime and homelessness in her city, or the state would take over.
Mendenhall met lawmakers’ deadline, unveiling a multi-pronged plan and emphasizing its success would require support and investment from the state.
The mayor gave a six-month update on the plan in mid-July, her new police chief at her side, as they reported that crime is down in the city. However, Mendenhall also expressed disappointment over funding that didn’t come through and policy proposals that did not pass the Legislature, urging lawmakers to “give those measures more serious consideration moving forward.”
“This crisis demands sustainable, long-term funding from the state to meet the scale of this challenge in the fastest growing state in this nation,” she said.
Barrani v. Salt Lake City20250731
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