By requiring government ID, Mississippi’s Capitol Police have effectively banned many homeless people in a portion of Jackson from obtaining a panhandling permit, homeless people and advocates say.
Under a 2025 state law called the Safe Solicitation Act, people wishing to collect charitable donations next to intersections and roadways in Mississippi must apply for a daily permit that costs up to $25. If they do not, they can face up to six months in jail and a maximum $300 fine.
The law was written by Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent who represents northeast Jackson, an area covered by the Capitol Complex Improvement District. This part of Yates’ district is patrolled by the state-run Capitol Police and contains some of the city’s most visible panhandling along I-55 Frontage Road.
Yates did not respond to calls and texts from Mississippi Today. In 2025, she told the Clarion Ledger the bill was intended to address “a safety issue” with people panhandling next to busy roads.
The law applies statewide, with implementation left up to local police departments. But in the CCID, applicants seeking to panhandle need one form of government ID, a requirement implemented by the Capitol Police and not specified in state law.
Between March 10 and May 7, Capitol Police issued 26 panhandling permits, according to a handwritten log of applicants filed in a federal lawsuit challenging the act.
Bailey Martin Holloway, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, wrote in an email that Capitol Police have not denied any applicants and that all applicants had an ID.
Independent volunteer Dee Dee Barlow Moore delivers clothing and bags of food and water to homeless Jacksonians on Feb. 6, 2025. Credit: Maya Miller/Mississippi Today
“None of them have that,” said Dee Dee Barlow Moore, who visits encampments in Jackson and helps homeless people connect with community services. “I would say 95% of homeless people do not have identification.”
The reason homeless people lack IDs is usually theft, Moore said. And once someone no longer has an ID, getting a new one can be difficult, especially if other documents that could prove their identity were also stolen.
Rachel Wright said she became homeless in 2023 after calamity struck: She was diagnosed with breast cancer, learned she had an autoimmune condition and her house burned down, destroying her truck. Without transportation, it was hard to work.
She stayed with relatives, but she said she soon felt like she was intruding. Sleeping outside, it wasn’t long before her belongings – including her driver’s license – were stolen.
“When you’re out on the streets, people steal from you constantly,” she said. “You just kind of lose the fundamental things you need to be in society.”
Recently, Wright connected with Joshua Tom, an attorney for the ACLU of Mississippi. He asked her if she wanted to join a class-action lawsuit he was working on in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center challenging the Safe Solicitation Act for violating people’s right to free speech.
A former music journalist, Wright was familiar with the First Amendment. She didn’t hesitate to say yes. She’s now one of three plaintiffs asking a federal judge to strike down the Safe Solicitation Act and allow them to continue panhandling without permits.
A panhandler waves at traffic at the intersection of County Line Road and the I-55 South Frontage Road, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Ridgeland. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
“The most protected location for speech in America is along streets and sidewalks,” Tom told Mississippi Today.
Not so for the homeless in Jackson, Wright said. Most days, she retrieves a piece of cardboard from a dumpster and scrawls the same message: “Homeless, hungry, anything helps.”
But the ritual hasn’t brought her much luck. Since Capitol Police began ramping up enforcement of the Safe Solicitation Act earlier this year, Wright said officers have yelled at her and told her to move along, even if she isn’t actively “flying a sign.”
“It’s not illegal to sit there on a bucket,” she said.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU wrote that Capitol Police have cited at least one person for panhandling without a permit since the law went into effect based on an affidavit filed in October.
Wright said that one citation doesn’t capture the full impact of the law, which she said officers use as a pretext to search people’s belongings.
One day, Wright said she was standing in her usual spot when an officer pulled up beside her and asked if she had a permit. When she said no, she said he told her she was “being a smart ass” and checked her bags.
Inside, Wright had a rubber pipe that she said she’d found and wanted to show to a friend.
The officer arrested Wright for drug paraphernalia and took her into custody. She said he made her leave her pink bike behind, which she believes was stolen.
Now, if Wright wanted to seek a permit, she’d have to walk to the Capitol Police office on West Street – miles away from the city’s frequently trafficked intersections where it’s easier to solicit donations.
