HB 536 Summary

• Prohibits individuals from residing in, on, or within fifty feet of freshwater waterways (rivers, streams, or drainage canals), with exceptions for lawful owners and renters of real property in those areas.

• Authorizes state and county law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Land and Natural Resources Conservation and Resources Enforcement Program and county police departments, to enforce the prohibition by issuing orders to vacate.

• Allows law enforcement to issue oral orders to vacate without advance notice, give individuals 45 minutes to remove personal property, and immediately dispose of unattended property without holding it for retrieval.

• Establishes a graduated enforcement approach: warnings for first offenses, citations for subsequent offenses, and arrests and fines for violations exceeding an unspecified threshold number of times.

• Requires the Department of Land and Natural Resources to adopt administrative rules to implement the chapter and directs counties to accept community complaints regarding violations; appropriates unspecified funds to counties for implementation costs.

• Effective date: July 1, 2025.