Plan Brands Sex Offenders Legislation Seeks To Name Names, Confine Worst Offenders Indefinitely

Names of convicted sex offenders would be made public under legislation proposed Thursday by the state attorney general.

The proposal also would allow judges to confine the most heinous sexual predators indefinitely in treatment programs.

“This legislation will provide greater protection from known sexual offenders who have returned to society,” said Attorney General Al Lance. “It will also keep separated from society the most predatory and violent sexual offenders who are likely to continue to prey upon our children.”

Both proposals are part of the Child Protection Act of 1998, legislation Lance plans to push during the coming legislative session. The proposals would meet the objectives of the Jacob Wetterling Act and Megan’s Law amendments passed by the U.S. Congress. Idaho would lose federal grant money for crime prevention if it doesn’t adopt such legislation.

Current laws governing sex offender registration limit public access to information. People wanting to know if someone is a registered sex offender must submit that person’s name and birth date or address to the state Department of Law Enforcement.

Even then, the information on the registered offender may be dated or inaccurate, said Bill von Tagen, deputy attorney general.

Under the proposed legislation, sex offenders would be required to renew their registration on a yearly basis. Renewal requirements would include updating pictures and fingerprints of convicted sex offenders and verifying their addresses.

Failing to register, providing false information and failing to report a change of name or address all would be crimes, von Tagen said.

A list of registered sex offenders would be provided to the state school superintendent and health and welfare workers. Local school districts would then be notified of sex offenders in their area by the state superintendent’s office.

Residents wanting a copy of the list could request it by county or zip code for a $5 fee. The list would include youth offenders 14 years and older.

Law enforcement officials also would be required to notify sheriff’s departments in other states when a convicted sex offender leaves Idaho. Other states that have adopted Megan’s Law legislation would in turn notify Idaho law enforcement officials when a sex offender moves into their county.

The cross-state notification would help ensure offenders seeking to escape tougher sex offender registration and notification in other state are monitored, Lance said. It’s not uncommon for inmates confined in other states to call Idaho asking about sex offender registration requirements, he said.

“Basically what these individuals were doing was shopping around to see what states did not have sex offender registration,” Lance said.

A four-member board would separate the violent sexual predators. The board would include at least one treatment professional, law enforcement officer and victim’s advocate.

Offenders who have completed their criminal sentences and are not deemed ready to return to society could then be sent to civil confinement by a judge. There, offenders would receive further treatment. Their progress would be re-evaluated annually.

“The belief is that through improvement in treatment and improvement in facilities that these types of people will not be warehoused for the rest of their lives,” said Freeman Duncan, a Post Falls attorney working with the attorney general’s office.

Other proposed legislation includes:

Enhanced penalties for persons convicted of drunken driving with a blood-alcohol level of .16 or greater

Making assault and battery by students on teachers or other school staff while attending school activities a separate crime.

Requiring background checks for nursing home operators and employees.

Making the date-rape drug GHB illegal to possess. The drug is made from legal ingredients, Lance said. Its recipe can be found on the Internet.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE PROPOSAL Sex offenders would be required to renew their registration on a yearly basis. Renewal requirements would include updating pictures and fingerprints of convicted sex offenders and verifying their addresses.