Law enforcement officials back re-write of state's sex offender laws

DES MOINES - Law enforcement officials turned out Monday night in support of a proposed rewrite of state laws dealing with sex offenders, saying the current laws don't protect the public.

The proposal under consideration in the Legislature would scale back a state law banning some sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care. Only the most serious offenders would be subject to the rule, which law enforcement officials have said is difficult to enforce and makes offenders hard to track.

The proposal would instead create safety zones where the state's registered sex offenders would be prohibited from visiting or working.

Those zones would include schools, parks, or other places where large groups of children gather.

Offenders also would face stricter reporting requirements to sheriff's departments, and corrections officials would be given the latitude to decide which offenders should wear real-time, GPS tracking bracelets.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said it's time the state strengthened its laws, pointing to the 2005 murder of 10-year-old Jetseta Gage in his home county by a convicted sex offender.

"I'm here because I feel very strongly about this issue," Pulkrabek told lawmakers.

Peter Bawden of the Scott County Sheriff's Department said he received a recent call wondering why a sex offender who had perpetrated against children was allowed on a school bus with disabled children on it.

"I had to apologize and say there was nothing we could do," Bawden said. He said the proposed changes would help law enforcement officials prevent something horrible before it happens.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office also is supporting the legislation, saying it gives law enforcement officials more tools to keep tabs on offenders who have shown they are a danger to others.

The office says that reducing the number of people who are subject to the 2,000-foot rule could increase compliance with the law. Currently, many offenders are not reporting where they live because it is so difficult to find housing that doesn't violate the residency requirement.

Under the current 2,000-foot law, large areas of Iowa cities are off limits to sex offenders.

Darrin Starkey, who was convicted of an offense against a minor nearly 10 years ago in Dubuque County, said Iowa's 2,000-foot rule drove him out of the state.

"It's hell trying to find somewhere to live," he said.

His offense was eventually expunged from his record, but now he's worried the proposal before lawmakers will mean he ends up on the state's sex offender registry for life and won't be able to take his children to the park.

He urged lawmakers to think of people in his situation.

"I've got three kids too. You know, I want them protected. I agree with what you guys are trying to do, but I just plead with you, don't paint everybody with the same brush," Starkey said.

Former Democratic state representative Ed Fallon of Des Moines said the 2,000-foot law, which he voted against, has been a failure. He said the latest proposal could make some of the same mistakes and urged lawmakers to study all the ramifications.

"Legislators may find themselves back here ... 5,6,7 years from now undoing some of the problems created in a bill such as this hastily moved through," Fallon said.