The organizers of the Dallas HERO public safety and accountability charter propositions, which voters approved last month, publicly put the City of Dallas on notice to follow the law — or face a lawsuit authorized by the citizen-backed Proposition S.

Dallas HERO attorney Art Martinez de Vera filed a notice of claim with the city secretary’s office moments after the City Council kicked off a meeting at City Hall Wednesday morning. De Vera highlighted the city’s failure to enforce the Texas penal code.

In the letter delivered to the city, de Vera urged the city to take immediate action to follow the Texas penal code and dismantle homeless campgrounds or risk facing a lawsuit within 60 days.

“I am writing on its (Dallas HERO) behalf to provide 60-day notice of claim under Dallas City Charter Chapter XXV, Sec. 1(C), for the City of Dallas’s non-enforcement of Texas Penal Code Section 48.05, which prohibits camping in a public place without the effective consent of the officer or agency having the legal duty or authority to manage the public place,” de Vera wrote.

In his letter, de Vera included pages of photographs of homeless campgrounds across the city.

Dallas HERO revealed the dissemination of the legal warning on X, formerly Twitter.

“Texas law prohibits camping on public property (Penal Code § 48.05), and the Supreme Court just upheld such bans (Grants Pass v. Johnson). Ignoring the law is not an option,” Dallas HERO tweeted. “Prop S emphasizes the importance of upholding public safety and ensuring accountability in addressing this issue. Dallas HERO is giving you 60 days to comply. Public safety cannot wait— let’s get this done.”

De Vera also urged the city to be transparent in its communication with citizens as it enforces the law and demanded that local policies are in alignment with state laws.

Proposition S grants Dallas citizens “standing to bring a lawsuit against the City, entitles them to seek declaratory and injunctive relief, and waives the City’s governmental immunity from suit and liability claims.”

Many on the City Council and the city’s political establishment actively opposed Proposition S, warning of rampant nuisance lawsuits.

However, proponents argued the establishment missed the point of the proposition.

“The opposition claims this will bankrupt the city is pure nonsense. The proposition provides the city 60 days to solve the problem and has language to prevent frivolous lawsuits,” Betty Culbreath, chair of the Dallas Housing Authority, wrote in an op-ed for The Dallas Express prior to Election Day. “What scares the City Council most, is that it requires city leaders to follow the same laws we’re expected to do. More importantly, it gives all of us a voice that we can take action without fear of reprisal on whatever issues or projects matter to us.”