7-13-2010 Utah:
LAYTON, Utah (AP) -- A $25 fee cities can charge to register sex offenders is being used by northern Utah police departments to help offset the cost of tracking them.
Cities along the Wasatch Front that have adopted the annual offender registration fee include Roy, Riverdale and Layton.
Police say an advantage to the program is that it puts registered sex offenders in regular contact with the police responsible for managing them in the community.
Riverdale police Lt. James Ebert said many Utah cities have either adopted the $25 fee or are considering doing so.
With the state shifting the responsibility of tracking the offenders to local policing agencies, the cities were using their work forces to register offenders without compensation, Ebert said.
Ebert said it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for police to register each offender, not including any address changes or information updates that may have to be added to an offender's file.
"There is more than just contact once a year," Ebert said of Riverdale, which currently has about a dozen registered sex offenders.
"For us (the $25 fee) is definitely not a revenue generator," he said.
Roy also assesses the $25 fee and would charge more if it could, Police Chief Greg Whinham said.
"I think it is low, but it is what we have been allowed," he said.
The $25 fee does not cover the cost of managing sex offenders, Whinham said, but that does not concern him.
Requiring Riverton's 70 sex offenders to register keeps authorities in contact, ensuring offenders are compliant. It also provides offenders with the chance to tell police about any harassment they may be experiencing.
The city has the offenders check in with police twice a year, Whinham said.
Offenders must register every year on their birthday, and then six months later they must return to the city offices to verify where they live and what kind of vehicle they drive, Whinham said.
Registered offenders who fail to come forward will get a visit from police officers, he said. ..Source.. KSL.com
July 13, 2010
Some Utah cities using fees to track sex offenders
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3 comments:
Paying fees to cites, counties or states AFTER you have completed your sentence is just plain EXTORTION!
Don't pay those fees. I bet there is something in the laws that prevent officials from making an offender pay for anything once there parole or probation has been completed.
Another reason to drive the poor and homeless underground, thus in violation.
They should tax the parents who are paranoid and have this registry up for the illusion of THEIR safety.
Repressive and capricious policies such as “fees” are used to systematically keep the hysteria, fear and outrage alive. Legal or not, just the mention of SO’s helps to support even more awful and stigmatizing polices in the future. Pariah (the lowest caste in India) are never to be considered human beings so such indignations rarely are challenged.
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