Riverside has adopted a new ordinance requiring organizations to give 24 hours' notice before transporting an unhoused person into city limits, city officials announced Tuesday.
The rule applies to any organization — including government agencies, hospitals or other institutions — that plans to bring someone without stable housing into Riverside.
City officials say the new rule is to make sure shelter beds, behavioral health services and other resources are lined up before someone arrives, rather than scrambling to respond afterward.
“Ensuring an unhoused person has the best chance at success requires coordination of services, and that is made infinitely more difficult when an individual is brought to our city in a haphazard way,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in the release. “Riverside is committed to assisting unhoused people living in our city on the path to self-reliance, and this ordinance will give us the best opportunity to do that.”
Organizations must submit written notice through an online form at least 24 hours before a planned drop-off. The notice goes to the City Manager's office and the city's Director of Housing and Human Services, giving staff time to coordinate shelter placement, behavioral health care and housing navigation services.
Drop-offs must also happen during normal business hours — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — so city staff and service providers are available to help.
The ordinance does not apply to individuals traveling or relocating on their own, and it doesn't restrict charitable organizations from providing basic survival assistance, citing protections under state law, according to the release.
Organizations that violate the ordinance for the first time will get a warning. A second violation could result in an administrative citation, which may include a hearing and appeal process. The city says it can also pursue civil action to collect unpaid fines, though the ordinance does not specify fine amounts.
Riverside officials point to the city's role as a regional hub — home to the Robert Presley Detention Center, several hospitals, behavioral health facilities and motels used as shelters — as a factor drawing people experiencing homelessness from outside city boundaries, sometimes without any coordinated housing or service plan in place.
In the press release, city officials cited one recent example: a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy dropped off a person experiencing homelessness from Jurupa Valley outside the Riverside Access Center without coordinating with city staff or service providers beforehand.
The city says stabilizing one unsheltered person costs roughly $63,000 in shelter, rental assistance, case management and outreach services — a cost officials say shouldn't fall disproportionately on Riverside when the person's ties are to another jurisdiction.
The city's most recent Point-in-Time Count, conducted by the Riverside County Continuum of Care in 2025, identified 614 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Riverside.
The ordinance is part of a broader set of city efforts on homelessness, including its Homelessness Action Plan, expanded shelter capacity, and outreach conducted by the city's Public Safety and Engagement Team.
The city also works with nonprofit providers and Riverside County agencies on shelter, recuperative care and permanent housing placement.
