WY- Bill would streamline sex offender registration

12-5-2008 Wyoming:

A proposed bill for the 2009 Legislature will streamline and close loopholes in the law for registered sex offenders, according to the draft passed by the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee on Thursday.

"We're satisfied," said Byron Oedekoven, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police.

"They took our suggestions to heart," Oedekoven said. "They added even clearer language."

While the proposed changes will not directly affect residents in neighborhoods where sex offenders live, they will clarify the process for registering and better conform to the federal Jacob Wetterling and Adam Walsh acts, he told the committee.

The federal laws were passed to manage sex offenders. Jacob Wetterling, 11, was kidnapped in Minnesota in 1989 and never seen again. In 1981, Adam Walsh was abducted from a store in Hollywood, Fla., and murdered. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act makes it a federal offense to fail to register as a convicted sex offender.

Wyoming also has drawn criticism for being a haven for offenders because of its lax registration laws, Oedekoven told the committee in September.

About 1,300 sex offenders are required to register in Wyoming and many of those do not have substantial ties to the state, he said then.

After strengthening the requirements in 2007, sex offenders lost interest in moving to Wyoming, Oedekoven said then.

But the law still had some problems, Oedekoven said Thursday.

-- The existing law stated convicted sex offenders either had three days or 10 days to register.

-- It could allow offenders to notify either the sheriff or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

-- Laramie and Natrona counties notified by mail residents living within 750 feet of a sex offender, but sheriff's deputies in other counties notified residents by going door-to-door.

The proposed bill requires offenders to register with the sheriff's office within three working days from the time of their sentence or the time when they moved to the county of their residence. It also requires them to register in the counties outside the county of their residence where they work or attend school.

The three-day vs. 10-day requirement caused a problem in Goshen County, where an offender read the part of the law mentioning 10 days and registered after the three-day requirement, Oedekoven said later. The offender was not prosecuted for this violation, he added.

The requirement to register with the sheriff and not the DCI further streamlines the process, Kevin Smith of the DCI told the committee. "This will go after people who skirt registration by moving frequently."

It also saves the confusion of an offender being questioned by the sheriff when the offender thought he did the right thing by notifying the DCI.

The notification must be in person and not written, and the offender must be photographed, fingerprinted and palmprinted. The offender also must describe his vehicle and give the sheriff the license plate number, and give a DNA sample, according to the proposed bill.

After an offender registers with the sheriff, the sheriff notifies the DCI, which notifies the victim or the minor victim's family.

Offenders convicted of lesser sex crimes must report to the sheriff in person annually, and those convicted of more serious crimes with minors must report in person more frequently, according to the proposed bill.

The proposed bill also would allow counties options to notify residents.

The mail notification in Laramie and Natrona counties is working well, and other counties would like to do that, Oedekoven said.

The door-to-door notification, especially in rural areas, costs sheriff's offices money in overtime and in manpower, he said.

However, Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson, said he personally had done door-to-door notification about sex offenders and believed people liked that because he could answer their questions.

Smith of the DCI responded that the state's Web site -- attorneygeneral.state.wy.us/dci -- has much of the information people want. ..News Source.. by TOM MORTON
Star-Tribune staff writer