Culver signs sex-offender law changes

DES MOINES – Better tracking of where sex offenders are rather than where they sleep should make Iowa children safer and law officers more effective in protecting the public, according to backers of law changes signed by Gov. Chet Culver on Thursday.

“The enactment of this bill is a major public safety achievement,” said Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Eugene Meyer, who hailed the signing of Senate File 340 as the most comprehensive update since Iowa's sex-offender law was enacted nearly 15 years ago.

“By signing this law, Gov. Culver will give to Iowans a smarter, more effective law,” he added. “It will improve registration, it will improve monitoring and tracking of sex offenders, and it will make Iowa a safer place to live.”

Culver gathered outside the Capitol with law officers, prosecutors, victims' advocates and others to sign a bill that he said will significantly revise Iowa's laws regarding sex offenders and prohibit those convicted of sex offenses against minors from working or visiting places where children are likely to gather.

Provisions of Senate File 340, known as the Adam Walsh Child Safety & Protection Act, call for better tracking of the most-dangerous sex offenders; new exclusion zones for child sex offenders to keep them away from schools, daycares, and parks; and new work and volunteer restrictions for child sex offenders at places with children.

The bipartisan legislation scales back the state's law banning some sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care -- a rule that left large areas of cities off-limits to sex offenders looking for housing.

The most-serious offenders will still be subject to the so-called 2,000-foot rule.

But the measure establishes a new category of exclusionary zones where registered sex offenders would be prohibited from working or visiting without permission.

Sex offenders will no longer be allowed in schools, on school busses, at child care centers, or public libraries.  In addition, sex offenders convicted of serious crimes are not allowed within 300 feet of these facilities, as well as other places minors may be present, such as playgrounds and swimming pools.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said Iowa's current residency restriction “had more of the elusion of safety. This will have much more of the reality of safety. We feel the Legislature did a very good job and we're appreciative of what they did.”

To help keep sex offenders away from Iowa's children, the new law that takes effect July 1 also provides that convicted sex offenders will no longer be allowed to work in places such as schools, day cares, kids' arcades, and other places where children are often present.

S.F 340 also contained new reporting requirements for registered sex offenders designed to give parents, schools officials and the public increased access to information about them. Under the new law, sex offenders on the state's registry also would be required to give passport and vehicle information as well as Internet user names to the local county sheriff.

BREAKOUT

Exclusionary zones: Zones would apply to any offender with a sex offense against a minor. Offenders cannot visit schools, school buses, child care centers or public libraries without permission. They also are prohibited from loitering within 300 feet of schools or child care centers or loitering in places intended primarily for children when minors are present, including playgrounds, recreational areas, swimming pools and beaches.

Prohibited employment: People convicted of sex offenses against a minor could not work at city, county or state fairs, carnivals, children's arcades or amusement centers when minors are present. They also would be prohibited from working at playgrounds, beaches, minors' recreation or sport activity areas or public pools. All sex offenders could not work where dependent adults reside.

Residency restrictions: People convicted of first-, second- or third-degree sex abuse against a minor would be prohibited from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care. However, the restriction would not apply in “statutory” cases of third-degree sex abuse when a sex act with a minor was consensual.

Who is required to register: Anyone convicted of a sexually violent offense or a sex offense against a minor more serious than a simple misdemeanor would be required to register. Those convicted of child pornography, incest, indecent exposure, or comparable offenses in another jurisdiction also would be included as well as those with sexually motivated offenses such as invasion of privacy or human trafficking for commercial sexual activity.

Registration requirements: Offenders would have to stay on the state's sex offender registry for 10 years for all sex offenses except aggravated offenses, which bring a lifetime registration requirement. The requirement would apply regardless of whether the offense occurred in Iowa or another state.