IN- Sex offenders charged to Register?

Given that Congress has forced evey state to have a registry, it seems more than logical that Congress should be paying to operate these registries. In fact, under the Adam Walsh Act there are grants to pay states and local jurisdictions' expenses (See Sec. 631 of AWA) (SMART Office Fiscal Year 2009 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program). Therefore there is no logical reason to be charging registrants (esp. if local juridicstions failed to apply for the grants through their state representative), AND since registries are harming registrants -and their families- daily. Accordingly, any fees (further punishments?) charged registrants should be declared an ex post facto violation. ACLU where are you?

8-26-2009 Indiana:

Paperwork for ordinance in the works

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - NewsChannel 15 has uncovered convicted sex offenders living in Allen County may soon have to pay a fee to include their addresses on the county's sex offender registry.

Over 40 other counties in Indiana have ordinances requiring offenders to pay 50 dollars a year to register their address -- which is required of them.

Allen County Sheriff's Department Cpl. Jeff Shimkus says documents have been filed that would bring that yearly fee ordinance to Allen County. The ordinance, if passed by the county commissioners, would also require offenders to pay five dollars each time they change their address.

Shimkus says 90 percent of the money generated from that fee would be used in Allen County to maintain and update the current registry. The other ten percent would go to the state of Indiana. ..Source.. by Lindsay DeWitte



Sex offenders to pay registry fee?

Paperwork for ordinance in the works

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - NewsChannel 15 has uncovered convicted sex offenders living in Allen County may soon have to pay an annual fee to include their addresses on the county's sex offender registry.

According to the Associated Press, more than 40 other counties in Indiana have similar ordinancees.

Allen County Sheriff's Department Cpl. Jeff Shimkus says documents have been filed that would bring that yearly fee ordinance to Allen County. The ordinance, if passed by the county commissioners, would also require offenders to pay five dollars each time they change their address.

Shimkus says 90 percent of the money generated from that fee would be used in Allen County to maintain and update the current registry. The other ten percent would go to the state of Indiana.

"I think it makes a lot more sense to have these offenders pay $4 per month than to ask the tax payers to figure out how we are going to pay for this program that the state is requiring us to do," said Shimkus.

Grant County has had an annual registry fee in place for about a year. Detective Jamie Moore with the Grant County Sheriff's Department says there were some intial concerns that the fee would act as a deterrant for offenders to register at all.

"So far we haven't had any problem with it," said Moore. "Even the [offenders] that we had concerns with being able to afford the registration fee have seemed to come up with the $50 every year."

That's not the only concern though. Kimberly DuBina is the Indiana contact for a group called Reform Sex Offender Laws. DuBina says the registry fee is not only unfair, it's illegal. She says it punishes offenders twice, and for crimes committed before the law even existed.

"The registry is for the community's benefit," said DuBina. "It is not for the sex offender's benefit. If the community wants this, then the community should, through tax payer funds, pay for that."

Shimkus called the suggestion "immoral".

"That will never happen," he said.

Right now the paperwork for the Allen County Sex Offender Registry Fee is in the hands of a lawyer who is preparing it to go in front of county commissioners. No word on when that might be. ..Source.. by Megan Stembol, Lindsay DeWitte