IA- Sex offender law passes Senate unanimously, but could face GOP opposition in House

4-24-2009 Iowa:

Iowa’s sex offender laws would no longer include residency restrictions, instead using exclusionary zones and better tracking of individuals convicted of sexual crimes, following a unanimous vote in the state Senate Thursday night.

Senate File 340 ends the law banning some sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care. The new law would create exclusionary zones where registered sex offenders would be prohibited from working or visiting without permission.

“This legislation is strongly supported by Iowa prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and victims’ rights groups,” said Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield, who managed the bill on the Senate floor. “It increases supervision of violent offenders, keeps sex offenders from hanging around schools and other places where children gather, and improves the safety of our communities.”

Despite the unanimous Senate support, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said this morning that House Republicans informed him they were going to try to kill the measure. Republican Rep. Clel Baudler of Greenfield was assigned by McCarthy to floor manage the bill. House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Convicted sex offenders would be prohibited from loitering within 300 feet of an elementary or secondary school; being at an elementary school or day care without permission; working at a school or childcare facility; or loitering within 300 feet of anyplace intended primarily for use by children, such as a playground or sports field. The bill would also allow ankle bracelets to be used to track convicted sex offenders in Iowa.

The “2,000-foot rule,” which passed in 2002 but didn’t go into effect until 2005, has been widely criticized by law enforcement officials as unworkable and failing to adequately protect the public from sexual predators.

Despite the overwhelming opinion that the law needed to be changed, legislators have long been hesitant, fearful political opponents could misconstrue their vote as weakening the bill when they ran for re-election. Those fears were realized when former state Rep. Ed Fallon, D-Des Moines, challenged fellow Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell in the 2008 Third District primary. Fallon was the only “no” vote cast when the Iowa House originally passed the bill, and a few weeks before the primary, a 527 group sent our direct-mail fliers saying he was so soft on criminals he even thinks it’s OK for sex offenders to live near schools.

When the possibility of revising the law came up this year, legislators were eager ensure whatever came to a vote on the floor had broad bipartisan support. Lawmakers from both parties have held secret meetings for weeks crafting the bill passed last night.

The 2,000-foot rule would still apply to the state’s most dangerous sex offenders.

The Iowa House is expected to take up the bill Friday. Gov. Chet Culver has indicated he supports the changes. ..News Source.. by Jason Hancock