Bringing The World Home To You

© 2023 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Panhandling Violators To Get Help In Durham

A homemade solicitation sign and cup, panhandling.
Brokensphere via Wikimedia Commons
/

People ticketed for breaking panhandling rules in Durham may soon be able to avoid the criminal court system.  The change would mean sending violators of the solicitation or panhandling ordinance through Community Life Court – instead of paying fines or doing time in jail.

Durham City Manager Tom Bonfield has already consulted with the chief district court judge and the city attorney on the matter.

“What we’re trying to do is move all of these violations to Community Life Court so that they will all be heard at the same time, in the same hearing once a month.  But that then there will be service provider agencies available to assist persons," said Bonfield.

Bonfield says the Homeless Services Advisory Committee has agreed to the changes. But they still need city council approval.  Opponents claimed the current ordinance criminalized poverty.

Bonfield says the updated solicitation ordinance is not just focused on the homeless.  He says it also includes changes affecting all roadside panhandlers.

"It would include political campaigning, it would include car washes, cookie sales or whatever, church fundraisers and those people with buckets," said Bonfield. "Everything falls under the same set of rules." 

Leoneda Inge is WUNC’s race and southern culture reporter, the first public radio journalist in the South to hold such a position. She also is co-host of the podcast Tested and host of the special podcast series, PAULI. Leoneda is the recipient of numerous awards from AP, RTDNA and NABJ. She’s been a reporting fellow in Berlin and Tokyo. You can follow her on Twitter @LeonedaInge.
More Stories