Dallas Weighs Rules on Churches and Nonprofits Feeding the Homeless

Dallas city officials are weighing new regulations on churches, nonprofits and other groups that distribute free meals to homeless people on public streets and sidewalks, the latest major Texas city to consider tightening street-feeding rules. Advocates warn the restrictions would effectively criminalize mercy ministries that have operated in Dallas for decades and violate the religious-exercise rights of Christian congregations that consider feeding the poor a core biblical mandate. The proposed rules echo similar fights in Houston, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, where municipalities have tried to balance sanitation and public-order concerns against religious-liberty protections for ministries serving the vulnerable.