IA- New sex-offender tracking rule sought before U.S. deadline

12-1-2008 Iowa:

It could be the perfect opportunity to kill Iowa's controversial law restricting where registered sex offenders can live and completely rewrite the rules aimed at tracking violators.

State lawmakers' reason for this politically risky move? Iowa is under a deadline to update its laws anyway so that they match a stricter federal law.

Sex offenders, including some as young as 14, would have to stay on the online public registry at least five years longer, reveal more personal information about where they work and go to school, and face more supervision from law enforcement.

Iowa must comply with these federal provisions by July or lose up to $450,000 for law enforcement activities.

Some Iowa lawmakers think this is the chance to toss out the controversial 2,000-foot state rule restricting where sex offenders can sleep, and pass a new law banning them from school grounds and child care centers unless they have written permission.

"Scrap what we have because it's not working," said Republican state Rep. Clel Baudler, a former state trooper who lives in Greenfield.

Even if other lawmakers and victim advocates agree with that, some are leery of certain provisions in the federal law, called the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

State Sen. Keith Kreiman said the provisions would cost Iowa law enforcement more in time and money. He wants to be sure the provisions would actually make children safer from sexual violence before he votes for them.

"When you're adding additional burdens on state and local taxpayers, you'd better make darn sure what you're doing is going to result in better public safety," said Kreiman, a Democrat from Bloomfield who heads the judiciary committee in the Iowa Senate.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety will finalize a draft bill today, said Ross Loder, a state employee who lobbies for the department.

One of the most controversial provisions in the bill would require some Iowa juveniles as young as 14 years to be on the sex offender registry, with their photo, address and crime committed available for public inspection.

But it would only be for certain serious sex crimes such as those involving force, Loder said. Currently, Iowa judges have the option of waiving registry listing for any youth up to age 17 for any sex crime.

If Iowa complies with the federal law, some youths' names could circulate on the Internet for years, which would "basically stigmatize them for life," said Elizabeth Barnhill, executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

"Clearly there are some juveniles that are very dangerous, but there are many who were also themselves victims and they're very amenable to treatment," she said.

Registry laws that are "more draconian" may send more offenders underground, away from treatment and law enforcement monitoring, Barnhill said. Whereabouts are unconfirmed for 134 of the 5,083 sex offenders on the Iowa registry.

Fewer victims may report abuse "if they know their uncle or stepfather ... will be on the registry for life, and they're probably going to be unemployed and your family's going to have to move," Barnhill said.

"Oh, dear!" said Gaileen Phelps, a Sioux City mother, when she heard about the proposed requirements. "We've just been praying so hard they'd lessen the rules."

Her son, Stephen Phelps, 45, is set to drop off the registry in 2012, but under the new law, he'd stay on until at least 2017 and have to report more personal information such as his Social Security number, e-mail addresses and car license plate.

Gaileen Phelps said her son fondled an 8-year-old girl when he was drunk, then flew to Hawaii to confess to the girl's father and beg forgiveness. He reported himself to law enforcement officials, was convicted in 1994 of second-degree sexual abuse, and served eight years in prison.

Stephen Phelps is not employed. He can't live with his mother because her house is too close to a child care center, so he lives on an acreage outside the city.

"How do you expect these people to become productive citizens if they're continually harassed and treated with disdain?" Gaileen Phelps said.

The existing 2,000-foot rule is "extremely bad public policy," and lawmakers shouldn't make the same mistake in passing more bad policy on sex offenders, said Ben Stone, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.

"Several courts already have declared portions of the Walsh act unconstitutional, and state legislatures around the country are beginning to defy its mandates. Iowa's leaders should do the same," Stone said.

But, Loder said: "If Iowa were to stand out and say, 'We're not going to comply,' is the implication that we're going to be kind of like an island for offenders who don't want to be in this national system?"

The federal law does not require Iowa to repeal its 2,000-foot rule, which is a political third rail. But it would provide lawmakers some cover if they want to do so, supporters said.

"If they're afraid of political ramifications, I can assure them that anything we move forward with is better than what we have now," Baudler said.

By current state law, there are 2,000-foot rings around some schools and child care centers where no sex offenders can live. The proposed legislation would replace the residency restriction with "exclusion zones," which would limit where sex offenders may be present or loiter.

Offenders couldn't step foot on the grounds of a school or child care center without prior written permission, and they couldn't loiter within 300 feet.

Child abuse experts say it's a myth that children are most vulnerable to attacks by strangers who approach them at a school, playground or other public place. In reality, about 80 percent to 90 percent of child sexual abuse is committed by a person known to the child's family, such as a teacher, family friend or relative, said Steve Scott of Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.

Nevertheless, Scott supports replacing the 2,000-foot rule with the plan that keeps offenders off school and child care grounds without permission.

"It makes more sense than the existing law, but we don't have data to support the need for it," he said.

Even in cases of sexual attacks by strangers, there are examples that the 2,000-foot rule doesn't work. It did nothing to stop James Carson Effler Jr. in 2005, shortly after the law took effect. The 32-year-old convicted sex offender grabbed a 20-month-old girl at the downtown Des Moines library, locked her inside a bathroom and sexually assaulted her.

Lawmakers tried to slip a provision into a last-minute catch-all bill last session that would have banned sex offenders from child care centers without permission. It passed the Iowa House, but was scissored from the standings bill in the Iowa Senate.

There may be less wariness about replacing the 2,000-foot rule now that House Republicans have a new leader and the Democratic force in the House is even stronger, with 56 instead of 53.

"If it's going to happen, we need to have both Democrats and Republicans agreeing it's the right route to go," said House Speaker Pat Murphy.

As for the provisions of the Adam Walsh act, state Rep. Kurt Swaim, a Bloomfield Democrat, said he thinks it's likely lawmakers will comply.

"I don't know that I do anticipate a lot of resistance," said Swaim, chairman of the judiciary committee in the House.

If lawmakers don't comply, Iowa will lose up to $450,000 in federal money that pays for drug task forces and overtime for law enforcement officers. The amount depends on the federal budget for the grants and on whether the sanction is applied to grants for both the state and local governments.

Some lawmakers, including Kreiman, said they feel little urgency to meet the federal deadline.

The Legislature convenes Jan. 12. ..News Source.. by JENNIFER JACOBS

Lawmakers to weigh new draft bill
The choice for Iowa lawmakers is to update state laws to match a stricter federal law on sex offenders or be docked federal money for law enforcement activities. Some advocates are leery of some of the provisions in the federal Adam Walsh act, which could be expensive to enforce, and they hope lawmakers choose not to comply. Some of the highlights of a new draft bill state lawmakers will consider:

REGISTRY UNIFORM WITH OTHER STATES: Iowa's posted registry information would have to match federal standards. The idea is to provide one integrated national sex offender registry. The current national registry, at www.nsopr.gov, is just a portal that pulls varying information from 50 separate state registries.

WHAT OFFENDERS MUST REVEAL: Iowa sex offenders would have to publicly reveal not only where they live, but also where they work and where they go to school. They would publicly share their nicknames and license plate numbers and descriptions of vehicles they operate, including watercraft and aircraft. They would also have to give authorities their Social Security number, telephone number, e-mail addresses, address of temporary lodging when away for three or more days, Internet user names and employer name - but none of that would be published on the registry.

JUVENILES ON THE REGISTRY: Iowa juveniles as young as 14 would be required be on the sex offender registry. But it would be only for certain serious sex crimes - those involving force, the threat of force or where the juvenile drugged or rendered the victim unconscious. Currently, Iowa judges have the option to waive registry listing for any youths up to age 17 for any sex crime.

DURATION ON THE REGISTRY: Some Iowa sex offenders would be on the registry longer - 15 years instead of 10 years. That's because the federal law lumps sex offenses into three "tiers." They require 15 years, 25 years or a lifetime on the registry. Iowa law currently has two tiers: 10 years or life.

OLD CASES ON THE REGISTRY: The federal provision is retroactive to old cases. That means some sex offenders who were convicted long ago, even before the creation of Iowa's registry in 1995, would now have to begin registering. It would apply only if a conviction today would trigger a lifetime on the registry. Also, old sex offenses would trigger a listing if the offender is convicted of a new indictable crime of any kind.

FACE-TO-FACE CHECKS: Sex offenders on the registry would have to appear in person at their county sheriff's department - either once a year, every six months or every three months, depending on the severity of their offense. They would have to update all relevant information. The sheriff's department would have the option to get a new photograph if the offender's appearance has changed.

Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety and federal Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking