Bill Proposes to Determine Sex Offender Residency Restrictions on 'Case-by-Case' Basis

The following is a statement from Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) following the committee vote on Assembly Bill 7878 by the Assembly Committee on Corrections today. The committee advanced a bill that would remove the current residency requirements for sex offenders, and instead, proposes to have the courts determine residency restrictions on a case-by-case basis. Currently, Level 3 sex offenders or any offender whose victim was under 18 may not live within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare facility while on parole, probation, or conditional discharge.

"Today, the majority members of the Assembly Committee on Corrections shockingly voted in favor of stripping away protections for children by repealing residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders, and replacing it with a system that will determine residency restrictions on a case-by-case basis. This legislation, if enacted, will place children at schools and daycare facilities unnecessarily at risk.”

“Applying residency restrictions subjectively is not going to protect children from becoming targets of dangerous predators. At least with our current law, there is a clear understanding that level 3 sex offenders – considered the most dangerous sex offenders – or any other offender whose victim was under 18, cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school or day care facility or be on those grounds. Unlike the sponsor of this proposal, I believe that we need to strengthen this law and prevent all sex offenders from residing near schools.”

"I've made it a priority in the Assembly to see that our laws are strengthened to keep children safe from dangerous predators. This is a misguided bill that adds confusion and subjectivity to the law where there shouldn't be."