Welsh holds off on decision to make sex offenders pay fee

4-7-2011 Louisiana:

WELSH — Officials here deferred a decision Tuesday on a measure to charge sex offenders fees for living in their town.

The council delayed the vote after Mayor Carolyn Louviere said legal issues have been raised.

“We’re not giving up or stopping anything,” Louviere said. “We have hit a roadblock and need to check into it and find out what can legally be done. There are some things that need to be clarified.”

The council began looking into increasing registration fees for sex offenders last month after residents voiced concerns about offenders living in their neighborhoods.

“One reason I am concerned is that most of the time this is not a one-time offense,” one concerned resident said. “Sometimes, it’s a lifetime, or 250 times.”

Many residents, including some council members, are worried that a tougher sex offender policy in Lake Charles may push more offenders to Welsh.

“A lot of them are moving here because fees are being raised higher in Lake Charles,” Councilman Charles Drake said. “We don’t know what kind of offenders are coming here.”

In January, the Lake Charles City Council passed a measure to increase the city’s sex offender registration fee from $60 to $600 and require offenders to provide more information on past convictions. The constitutionality of the law is being challenged.

Town attorney Rick Arceneaux said the Welsh measure would present legal issues, since the $60 annual registration fee is set by the state. The town would also have difficulty in enforcing the measure because, under the Lawrason Act, the town has a mayor’s court that can only handle misdemeanor offenses. Sex offenses are considered felonies and would have to handled by the district court, he said.

“Any town under 5,000 (people) is ruled by the Lawrason Act, and the Lawrason Act does things completely different,” Councilwoman Becky Hudson said.

There are 10 registered sex offenders in Welsh, one listed as noncompliant, according to the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office’s website.

Arceneaux said if any resident knows of a convicted sex offender living somewhere other than they are registered, they should report the offender to the local police department, sheriff’s office or state police. ..Source.. By DORIS MARICLE / AMERICAN PRESS