(Photo by Matt Kieffer - CC BY 2.0)

Downtown Prescott, Arizona.

Prescott is moving forward to regulate group homes for recovering addicts. The city is holding a public hearing on Tuesday to gather input about the proposed rules.

The proliferation of so-called sober living homes in Prescott has become a crisis in recent years with, at one point, upward of 200 homes. That drove a Prescott lawmaker to back legislation this session allowing cities to back regulations, since many of the homes have virtually no oversight.

But industry representatives have warned that too much inference could result in federal lawsuits because recovering addicts are a protected class.

Prescott’s City Attorney Jon Paladini says he believes they can avoid that if they work with the industry to fashion the new rules.

“The legal analysis is— does the ordinance achieve a legitimate government interest? I think protection of persons with disabilities is a legitimate interest," he said. "And then we have to make sure that how we’re doing is what’s called the least drastic measure."

Paladini says the law will probably have reporting requirements about who runs and supervises the homes, exit plans for clients and other standards.