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http://www.gazettextra.com/20140903/elkhorn_city_council_approves_drafting_ordinance_restricting_where_sex_offenders_live
Elkhorn City Council approves drafting ordinance restricting where sex offenders live
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Andrea Anderson
September 3, 2014
RELATED STORIES
Elkhorn weighs rule on sex offenders Tuesday, August 6, 2013
ELKHORN—The Elkhorn City Council will vote in October on an ordinance that would restrict where sex offenders can live in the city.
On Tuesday, the council voted 4-3 to approve drafting of the ordinance that would require offenders to live at least 2,500 feet from facilities for children, such as schools, parks and licensed daycare centers.
Mayor Brian Olson was an alderman when talk of such an ordinance began in 2012 due to what he calls a “volume problem” to which the Department of Corrections does not have a solution.
“Why I brought this to the table is (because of) citizen-based complaints,” Olson said. “Walking through the community, people are not happy with the situation. They feel they are getting dumped on.”
The Department of Corrections and Health and Human Services place sex offenders in the county where their crimes were committed.
There are 62 registered sex offenders living in Elkhorn—more than in any other Walworth County municipalities, Olson said.
Alderman Scott McClory vehemently opposed the ordinance, saying it would block out the entire city.
“Where are they going to live?” McClory said. “There's a difference between restrictions and elimination."
McClory and aldermen Hoss Rehberg and Gary Payson Sr. voted against drafting the ordinance.
“I'm not advocating that we should have more sex offenders,” McClory said. “I'm saying we have a system in place that the DOC (Department of Corrections) says don't change.”
The city does not have an ordinance or restrictions for where sex offenders live, Olson said. Each offender has court-ordered restrictions he or she must abide by once released from jail.
A proposed ordinance was stalled in the Legislative and Regulatory Committee because the three-person committee could not come to a consensus on the issue, Olson said.
Alderman Tom Myrin shared concerns that business owners and citizens have expressed to him.
“Nothing good can come of all these people being in one place,” Myrin said. “I've seen it, and I've seen how they act, and it's absolutely not where I want to take my family. People don't feel comfortable even working downtown in some places because of this.”
The aldermen went back and forth arguing about the ordinance for about 30 minutes. Some said they have heard residents complain while others said the no one has raised the issue.
Safety, monitoring and where offenders would live all were discussed.
McClory, who works for the Walworth County Sheriff's Office, said there is a zero recidivism rate and Elkhorn has had no problems with offenders. He said the ordinance could lead offenders to become homeless, making it harder for authorities to monitor them.
Elkhorn Police Chief Joel Christensen said restricting registered sex offenders is “not a public safety concern” and the focus should be on potential future offenders.
“I think we all know we should be more concerned about those who have not committed an offense yet versus those who are on the registry,” Christensen said.
Offenders who live within 2,500 feet of the previously referred to “child safety zones” before being convicted and before the ordinance passing would be exempt. The draft will include an appeals process where offenders can contest where they might be placed.
If approved, the ordinance would go into effect within 60 days, Olson said.
- See more at: http://www.gazettextra.com/20140903/elkhorn_city_council_approves_drafting_ordinance_restricting_where_sex_offenders_live#sthash.lh6JJZid.dpuf
Dave in the Philippines
Elkhorn City Council approves drafting ordinance restricting where sex offenders live
0 14 0 Comments Comments Print Print
Andrea Anderson
September 3, 2014
RELATED STORIES
Elkhorn weighs rule on sex offenders Tuesday, August 6, 2013
ELKHORN—The Elkhorn City Council will vote in October on an ordinance that would restrict where sex offenders can live in the city.
On Tuesday, the council voted 4-3 to approve drafting of the ordinance that would require offenders to live at least 2,500 feet from facilities for children, such as schools, parks and licensed daycare centers.
Mayor Brian Olson was an alderman when talk of such an ordinance began in 2012 due to what he calls a “volume problem” to which the Department of Corrections does not have a solution.
“Why I brought this to the table is (because of) citizen-based complaints,” Olson said. “Walking through the community, people are not happy with the situation. They feel they are getting dumped on.”
The Department of Corrections and Health and Human Services place sex offenders in the county where their crimes were committed.
There are 62 registered sex offenders living in Elkhorn—more than in any other Walworth County municipalities, Olson said.
Alderman Scott McClory vehemently opposed the ordinance, saying it would block out the entire city.
“Where are they going to live?” McClory said. “There's a difference between restrictions and elimination."
McClory and aldermen Hoss Rehberg and Gary Payson Sr. voted against drafting the ordinance.
“I'm not advocating that we should have more sex offenders,” McClory said. “I'm saying we have a system in place that the DOC (Department of Corrections) says don't change.”
The city does not have an ordinance or restrictions for where sex offenders live, Olson said. Each offender has court-ordered restrictions he or she must abide by once released from jail.
A proposed ordinance was stalled in the Legislative and Regulatory Committee because the three-person committee could not come to a consensus on the issue, Olson said.
Alderman Tom Myrin shared concerns that business owners and citizens have expressed to him.
“Nothing good can come of all these people being in one place,” Myrin said. “I've seen it, and I've seen how they act, and it's absolutely not where I want to take my family. People don't feel comfortable even working downtown in some places because of this.”
The aldermen went back and forth arguing about the ordinance for about 30 minutes. Some said they have heard residents complain while others said the no one has raised the issue.
Safety, monitoring and where offenders would live all were discussed.
McClory, who works for the Walworth County Sheriff's Office, said there is a zero recidivism rate and Elkhorn has had no problems with offenders. He said the ordinance could lead offenders to become homeless, making it harder for authorities to monitor them.
Elkhorn Police Chief Joel Christensen said restricting registered sex offenders is “not a public safety concern” and the focus should be on potential future offenders.
“I think we all know we should be more concerned about those who have not committed an offense yet versus those who are on the registry,” Christensen said.
Offenders who live within 2,500 feet of the previously referred to “child safety zones” before being convicted and before the ordinance passing would be exempt. The draft will include an appeals process where offenders can contest where they might be placed.
If approved, the ordinance would go into effect within 60 days, Olson said.
- See more at: http://www.gazettextra.com/20140903/elkhorn_city_council_approves_drafting_ordinance_restricting_where_sex_offenders_live#sthash.lh6JJZid.dpuf
Dave in the Philippines
The residency restrictions were challenged and upheld a few years ago. No one has challenged the others.
These are all municipal laws.
And it makes moving to WI tricky to do!
good grief, where is hells name is this guy coming from? where is he getting his visual ideas from? the si-fi channel????
what are "these people" acting like? are their tongues hanging out dripping with drool or something? he makes them sound like rabid animals. or deformed monsters dragging their clawed hands on the pavement!!!!
i think i can imagine one person in that town who is exhibiting inappropriate behavior!
Most of the time people in the town would stand up and say stupid crap like that.
It's crazy.
Although there's positive things being said by the chief of police they still pass this ordinance.
They were challenged on two fronts: residency restrictions being punitive and ex post facto and that argument was shot down.
Then they tried to argue that local laws couldn't trump state laws (which contain no such restrictions) and that was shot down.
So WI has several dozen or more towns/ counties with crazy laws. South Milwaukees stink and they were the ones held up in court and so other towns model off theirs.
Now these are municipal. So no criminal penalty but a financial one!
http://www.wisconsinappeals.net/on-point-by-the-wisconsin-state-public-defender/south-milwaukee-ordinance-restricting-residency-of-sex-offenders-upheld-against-ex-post-facto-and-double-jeopardy-challenges/
Mostly because the state prisons place parolees there and these restrictions prevent that.
The article says:
There is a larger political play at hand here — and that is to force the state to enact a statewide sex offender residency law. That would sort of level the playing field, so that not all of the sex offenders end up in one community.
http://fox6now.com/2014/07/22/everyone-around-here-is-gonna-be-happy-common-council-ordinance-restricts-were-sex-offenders-can-live/
People fear what they don't understand, they don't understand sex offenders, the types of people they are, the backgrounds they come from, the influences that are in their lives and other motivations... They see only one thing and it looks like the 'monsters' that took Adam Walsh (where it was never even confirmed that he was ever sexually assaulted, but his father was quite involved with the mob at the time though), Jessica Lundsford, Jaycee Dugard, etc... they do not see the teenage boy over the age of majority dating his 16 yr old girl friend and going to prison and on the registry for the rest of their lives. They don't understand what drives a person that views cp and what could be happening to them to cause this behavior. In the communities that run from Green Bay to Milwaukee and Milwaukee to La Crosse, there are a plethora of residency restrictions that have been implemented locally in those areas.
Challenging it in court sounds so easy... and for all of us here I would expect most of us to realize that it is far harder and extremely expensive to just try cases from different angles on these issues. If there was one thing I learned from my husband's experiences it that when it comes to court, know your judge, know your opponent and be able to come up with something that the judge can really hang their hat on legally. Make it impossible for them to deny the legality of it. I have never studied the residency restriction cases closely but from reading a great many other cases, after you read the conclusions the judges are usually telling someone how to win the next one, by stating the information that was missing or the hardships that has to be material for it to succeed. After skimming the case, again I see that the judges aren't unwilling to hang their hat but that the argument wasn't GOOD ENOUGH. This boils down to the attorney that is doing the writing of these appeals and original circuit court stuff. I don't have every court document that was given through out these proceedings. For all I know the guy did give the judge a thing to hang his hat on and they ignored it in the briefs. But then it they would have grounds for appeal to the Supreme court here in WI too. I don't see where they have done that yet either.. .for that costs a lot of money. More than likely close to 6 digits to get an attorney to go up against them here in WI.
IvyDog is right, there is some serious political play going on here in WI, shit we make national news ever friggin election these days with our flip flopping government. then there is the infighting about gerrymandering and other things that have nothing to do with the citizens of the state of WI but more about power, control and money.
Then again I'm amazed at what different states sneak through.
Elkhorn is near Milwaukee where there is huge controversy over how many registrants are there and certain places feeling like "dumping grounds" for offenders. My thought on that is "stop producing offenders that have to register, like maybe working on prevention?" But that is neither here nor there, they worry about RIGHT NOW and do no looking forward or back because they might learn something... (sarcasm meant)