workshop item #18 for 6/12/06 agenda

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La Porte Police Department 915 South 8th Street La Porte, Texas 77571 281-471-3810 Fax: 281-470-1590 DRAFT 05/17/2006 Subject: D~bra Feazelle /J d Richard E. Reff ~#f Considerations Regarding Sex Offenders To: From: There are two issues that I feel that the City Council needs to be aware of and possibly be brought up in a workshop session. These issues are whether we will publish all registered sex offenders and the possibility of establishing an ordinance creating a 1,000 foot safety zone for children. First, the last legislative session made some changes in the law regarding sex offender registration. One of the issues that were changed was the requirement to post in a newspaper low and moderate risk sex offenders. The change still requires us to publish the high risk offender. I have asked Clark Askins to review this particular issue and he agrees that the requirement to publish low and moderate risk offenders no longer exists. In discussing this with other Chiefs 1 found that some have not been doing it and others are continuing to publish all sex offenders in their local newspapers. I did talk to the Department of Public Safety and they advise that the intent was to still publish low and moderate offenders but it was togive the option to the city and their community as to what they may want. According to them the major cities are still doing it. Although I agree with Clark Askins that it is not required and in fact completely deleted from the law, 1 feel that it should be brought to the Councils attention so they can determine what direction they wish to proceed. HB 867 made major changes to the Sex Offender Registration Program and is attached for your consideration. Second is the issue of the 1000 foot safety zone ordinance to prevent sex offenders of children from living within 1,000 feet of a place where children commonly gather and play. The City Council of Brazoria passed an Ordinance 05-008 on August 15, 2005 establishing a 1,000 foot 'safety zone' for areas in which children may gather within their City. The premise authorizing the creation of the Ordinance is based on the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42.12 (13b) which provides for a 1,000 foot safety zone for children, as a condition of probation for those convicted of certain sexual offenses (I added the bold face as it has a factor to play in deciding whether or not this City will adopt a similar ordinance). In addition the ordinance refers to Chapter 51 of the Local Government Code that provides the City authority to adopt ordinances for the good government, peace, order and welfare of the municipality. My initial concern was that under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) the authority to establish a 1,000 foot safety zone was invested in the presiding Judge as a term of punishment Debra Fae=elle City Manager Richard E. Reff Chief of Police Aaron Corrales Assistant Chief of Police