Survey: State lawmakers support sex registry changes

1-8-2010 South Dakota:

PIERRE -- Many state lawmakers support a plan to change South Dakota's registry of sex offenders so those convicted of less severe crimes get a chance to get their names removed from the list, according to a survey by The Associated Press.

Nearly two-thirds of the legislators responding to the survey said they would support the measure, which was written by a legislative study panel.

House Republican Leader Bob Faehn of Watertown said he expects the bill to pass because lawmakers have noted for many years that it's unfair to treat those convicted of less serious crimes the same as those convicted of rape and other more serious crimes. He said both kinds of convicts appear side-by-side on the current registry of sex offenders, which is posted on the Internet.

Senate Democratic Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls said he also thinks the Legislature will approve the measure because lawmakers feel the length of time convicts spend on the registry should vary according to the severity of their crimes.

"I think it's a reflection that this is one area of the law where one-size-fits-all is a bad rule," Heidepriem said.

Under current law, nearly all those convicted of sex offenses must remain on the registry for life. The current law allows people to ask for removal from the registry after 10 years, but only if they were adjudicated as a juvenile or convicted of statutory rape when younger than 21. The crime also cannot involve a victim younger than 13.

The study committee's proposal would create a three-tiered registry so those convicted of less severe crimes would have a chance of getting their names removed from the registry after a certain period.

Those convicted of rape or other severe crimes would remain on the registry for life. Those convicted of crimes on the middle tier, such as possession or sale of child pornography, would have to be on the list for at least 25 years. People convicted of less severe crimes, such as indecent exposure or statutory rape, would have to register for at least 10 years.

Officials have said South Dakota now has more than 2,500 sex offenders on the registry.

The study committee was told that about 1,200 have been removed from the registry since 1994, the vast majority because they moved out of the state. About half the juvenile sex offenders were removed after last year's state Supreme Court decision that found the law unfairly treated juveniles differently than adult offenders. ..Source.. Chet Brokaw