Residency law for sex offenders unlikely

LINCOLN (AP) - Most Nebraska lawmakers seem reluctant to pass a state law limiting where registered sex offenders can live.LINCOLN (AP) - Most Nebraska lawmakers seem reluctant to pass a state law limiting where registered sex offenders can live.

The issue of where sex offenders live has picked up steam in Nebraska ever since an Iowa law went into effect in September that bars sex offenders whose victims were children from living within 2,000 feet of a school or child-care facility.

South Sioux City, Dakota City, Springfield and Gretna recently adopted versions of Iowa's restrictions. Lincoln and a number of other communities are considering similar residency restrictions.

In a pre-session survey of Nebraska's 49 lawmakers by The Associated Press, only seven state lawmakers said Nebraska should adopt uniform restrictions on where sex offenders can live. Five others said they were leaning that way.

Omaha Sen. Gwen Howard has said she intends to introduce a measure imposing statewide residency restrictions.

"I think statewide legislation makes more sense than a patchwork of local ordinances," she said.

Fourteen senators said the state should not adopt such restrictions and eight others were leaning that way. Another 14 were undecided or did not answer the question. One senator did not participate in the survey.

"Residency restrictions do not work," said Sen. Pat Bourne of Omaha. "Every study looking at them has come to the same conclusion. Any politician who advocates for them is simply pandering to the 'get tough on crime' vote.

"We need to look at a comprehensive solution which may include concepts such as: mandatory jail times for those who fail to register, increased funding to law enforcement for enhanced monitoring, mandatory supervision, increased civil commitments to those who are considered a threat to society and increased jail times," he said.

All states have sex-offender registry laws that require convicted offenders to keep police informed of their addresses after serving their sentences.

The registries were mandated by so-called "Megan's laws," named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed in 1994 by a convicted sex criminal who lived near her home but whose criminal record was unknown to neighbors.

The State Patrol uses a system it developed with the help of experts to assess the probability of an offender offending again.

Information about convicted sex offenders is available online.

When an offender is listed as a high risk to re-offend - he or she are required to notify local law enforcement, schools, day care centers and youth organizations when moving into a community.

Nebraska is among 36 states that do not limit where sex offenders can live, though some offenders are limited by parole or probation.

Iowa adopted the residency restriction in 2002, joining Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma as states with a 2,000-foot boundary around schools and day care centers.

Iowa's was initially struck down by a federal judge in Des Moines, then upheld by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this summer.

Iowa prosecutors and police began enforcing the law in September after giving offenders living inside the buffer zones time to find new housing.

The Iowa Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of more than a dozen sex offenders, filed motions asking the U.S. Supreme Court to find the law unconstitutional.

Representatives from ATSA say the Iowa case is the first critical test of residency laws now being used in some form in as many as 14 states.

The ICLU sued immediately, arguing the restriction violated constitutional rights and would have the effect of banishing offenders from many cities and towns.

Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha said he was against such restrictions.

"We need to develop better screening and assessment of offenders prior to release," he said. "If the offender does not, will not, respond to treatment, don't let them out on the street."

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On the Net:

Nebraska Legislature: http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/

Nebraska Sex Offender Registry: http://www.nsp.state.ne.us/sor/

U.S. Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

Center for Sex Offender Management: http://www.csom.org

Parents for Megan's Law: http://www.parentsformeganslaw.com