WI- Sexual offenders rules set

6-18-2009 Wisconsin:

Three years after the issue was first raised by Alderperson Randy Morrissette II, the Hudson City Council has adopted an ordinance restricting where people convicted of sex crimes may reside.

Three years after the issue was first raised by Alderperson Randy Morrissette II, the Hudson City Council has adopted an ordinance restricting where people convicted of sex crimes may reside.

The ordinance also establishes 150-foot restricted zones around schools, parks, daycares, youth centers and other places where children congregate.

Anyone who has been convicted of a sex crime against a child or a violent sexual offense is prohibited from loitering near the restricted places or being on the premises.

Exceptions are allowed under certain circumstances.

The ordinance bars sex offenders from residing within 200 feet of the same prohibited places.

The ordinance was adopted on a unanimous voice vote at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Alderperson Scot O’Malley, the chief critic of earlier drafts of a sex offender ordinance, was absent.

Mayor Dean Knudson declared the ordinance to be one of the best -- if not the best -- in the state concerning sex offenders.

“I think we could be a model” for other municipalities in establishing residency restrictions, he said.

“We spent a lot of time on this, probably 10 times as much as legislators who voted on a statewide law,” Knudson noted.

He didn’t say what bill concerning sex offenders state legislators had voted on recently.

Hudson’s ordinance is much more narrowly tailored than ordinances in other Wisconsin cities that have resulted in sex offenders dropping out of sight, Knudson said.

Some cities have banned offenders from living within 1,500 or 2,000 feet of places where children congregate.

According to Community Development Director Dennis Darnold, 70 percent of Hudson’s rental housing will still be available to sex offenders under the 200-foot residency restriction adopted by the council.

More than 51 percent of the rental housing north of I-94 will remain available, according to a document prepared by Darnold. South of the freeway, more than 82 percent of rental units will remain available, he said.

Darnold said 262 apartments north of I-94 lie outside of restricted areas, and 697 apartments south of the freeway are outside of the restricted zones. He counted apartments in just buildings with three or more of them.

The penalty for a sexual offender who violates the residency restriction will be a $250 forfeiture plus court costs for the first offense and a $500 forfeiture for each subsequent offense.

Each day that an offender resides in a restricted zone will constitute a separate violation.

The forfeiture for going onto restricted property without permission, or loitering near it, will be $1,000 for the first offense and $2,000 for each subsequent offense.

Morrissette had pushed for more stringent residency restrictions, but he voted to adopt the ordinance before the council. ..Source.. by Randy Hanson, Hudson Star-Observer