Violent Sex Offenders Could Live Near Schools Under Budget Measure

MADISON, WI — Violent sex offenders and child predators could live near schools, daycare centers and other places where children congregate under a provision added to Wisconsin’s budget Tuesday by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. The measure was added at the recommendation of state Reps. Mark Born, a Beaver Dam Republican, and Katrina Shankland, a Stevens Point Democrat, who criticize judges who place convicted sex offenders far away from their home counties.

In dense urban areas like Milwaukee, judges have difficulty complying with the state laws that restrict placement within 1,500 feet of schools, child care facilities, public parks and places of worship. Those restrictions would no longer apply under the measure adopted Tuesday, though officials would still have to weigh their proximity to those facilities when deciding placement.

The measure was approved, 13-3, with little notice. Some lawmakers said it should be approved as a stand-alone bill approved by the entire Legislature.

The quick turnaround on the proposal bothered state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, a Middleton Democrat, who voting on it without constituent feedback put committee members in a “really bad spot,” the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

However, Born said the measure was pragmatic, addressing the issues judges wrangle with in placing sex offenders under the state’s violent sex offender law, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

“There is a logjam in the system now where they’re having trouble placing people in the final phase of treatment,” he said. “We really need to remember this is treatment and the folks who are in it have constitutional rights.”

Born also said the measure allowing violent sex offenders to be returned to their home counties ensures that judges “can’t dump on other counties,” as they are now to comply with Chapter 980, the state’s violent sex offender law. “Many counties that are placing 980s are doing statewide searches and it needs to stop,” he said.

The current restrictions are so tight that many sex offenders end up homeless, said state Rep. Joel Kleefisch, an Oconomowoc Republican who is crafting separate legislation addressing the placement of other sex offenders. Still, he doesn’t favor complete elimination of restrictions on where offenders can be placed.

“I do strongly support a buffer zone where they are just plain not allowed to go,” he said.

Gov. Scott Walker is reviewing the proposal, spokesman Tom Evenson told the Journal Sentinel.

Photo by DMichael Burns via Flickr Commons