AL- New law prohibits sex offenders from living near college campuses

Collectively this spells STUPID, is there a full brain in this legislature? A RSO can attend the college but cannot live within 2,000 feet, and already none live nearer than 2 miles away. Someone is on drugs or no one can be reading what is put before them, there can't be this many blunder-heads in one place, much less all got elected. What does this say about the voters? Who or what is being protected? Is it election time?

5-23-2009 Alabama:

Convicted sex offenders who may want to move into homes near Wallace State Community College should change their plans.

Gov. Bob Riley signed into law Monday, a bill that prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a college or university. Sex offenders may still attend colleges and universities.

The bill also prohibits sex offenders from loitering within 500 feet of school bus stops.

Previous Alabama law prohibited sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of an elementary, middle or high school.

“Alabama continues to take aggressive action to protect our young people from sexual predators,” Riley said in a press release. “Sex offenders are some of the most dangerous criminals, not only because of the horrific nature of their crimes but also because they are some of the most likely to re-offend.”

According to the Cullman County Sheriff Office’s sex offender web site, there are currently 147 registered sex offenders living in the county, however none live within 2,000 feet of Wallace State.

“According to our web site, we don’t have any who live within half a mile,” said Sheriff Tyler Roden.

Roden noted the closest sex offenders to Wallace State live about two miles from the campus.

For the sheriff’s office, keeping up with sex offenders in the area is a full-time job, Roden said.

“It’s very time consuming and takes up a lot of effort but it is something we feel is very important,” Roden said.

Roden said different areas of the sheriff’s office share in the responsibility of ensuring registered sex offenders comply with the law.

“We are proactive,” Roden said. “”If we are not proactive, probably 30 percent of them would not be compliant within six to eight months.”

As part of the sheriff’s office’s policy, patrol deputies make routine checks on all offenders to make sure they are still living where they say they are. A deputy at the Cullman County Detention Center handles the administrative duties regarding sex offenders and maintains the sheriff office’s web site with up to date information.

“But we can’t just rest on that,” Roden said. “We do need the public’s help. If they have information that an offender is not compliant with the law, we need them to call us and let us know.” ..News Source.. by Patrick McCreless