Report: Iowa sex crime convictions increasing

Iowa is trying to find more effective and less expensive ways of monitoring sex offenders as tougher laws and enforcement have increased the number of people convicted of sex crimes, raising the state's prison and parole costs.

A draft of a state report shows sex crime convictions have grown in each of the last five years, The Des Moines Register reported Tuesday.

The draft also shows prisons are housing sex offenders for longer periods, while parole caseloads are growing. According to the report, by 2021, some 2,600 sex offenders are expected to be serving "special sentences" under a state law passed in 2005. They will be supervised after their release from prison for 10 years or life, depending on their crimes.

"The special sentence, particularly lifetime supervision, will increase the parole caseload by 78 percent in 10 years," according to the report, released this month by Iowa's Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning. It said the additional cost of monitoring the offenders will total at least $34.5 million during that span.

Members of the Iowa Sex Offender Research Council are to discuss the report on Wednesday at the Statehouse.

"We're trying to figure out policy-wise what makes the most sense to do now," said Sally Kreamer, who heads the 5th Judicial District correctional services.

"Caseloads are only going to get larger and larger," she said. "If we don't figure out some strategy soon, I'll have to come back to my board and say, 'What is it that you don't want us to do anymore?'"

The Legislature agreed last year to allow corrections officials to use risk assessments to decide which offenders should be subject to electronic monitoring after they have been released from prison. That move saved thousands of dollars without causing any increased public safety issues, Kreamer said.

Now, Kreamer said it's getting hard to find good ideas on ways to deal with the cost of housing more sex offenders in prison and monitoring hundreds more on parole throughout the state.

The number of sex offenders in Iowa prisons reached 542 this year, up from 507 in 2007. Those sent back to prison for parole violations this year numbered 68, compared with four in 2007, The Register said.

Iowa is one of more than 20 states that created special sentences in the past decade to track sex offenders after their release from prison using corrections officers and technology such as GPS monitors. State Sen. Bob Dvorsky, a Coralville Democrat and member of the sex offender council, said it's difficult to say whether the Legislature will take up any suggested policy changes this year, an election year. State leaders also face another tight state budget and other priorities.