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Saturday, June 23, 2007
Ind. Law - More confusion about the sex offender law requirements
The ILB has had a number of entries from various Indiana locales about whether the Indiana sex offender law that went into effect July 1, 2006 requires that sex offenders already living within 1,000 of a school, etc., must move. See this June 7th entry and this one from June 6th for background.
Today a story in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette begins:
Some sex offenders living near parks or schools have to move under Indiana law – or do they?In Huntington County, the sheriff and prosecutor are at odds over who should have to move.
In August, Sheriff Kent Farthing sent letters to 18 sex offenders declared sexually violent predators or offenders against children, telling them they couldn’t live within 1,000 feet of a school, child-care center or public park.
But after receiving advice from his legal counsel, he changed his mind.
The wording of the law does not make it clear as to whether it applies to offenders convicted before July 1, 2006, when the law took effect, Farthing said.
Other counties have also decided the law’s retroactivity isn’t clear and aren’t enforcing it until Indiana’s courts or legislature makes that determination, he said.
“I’m the only one in this chain of events that’s liable,” Farthing said. “I’ll be the first one to be sued over this.”
Eleven offenders had already moved by late October, when Farthing sent another letter to the remaining seven offenders.
The brief letter told the offenders that until the law has been defined more clearly, Farthing was giving them permission to remain at their address, the sheriff said.
Meanwhile, Huntington County Prosecutor Amy Richison received complaints from residents in the city of Huntington about apparent violations that weren’t being addressed.
She informed those offenders they would have to move within 30 days, and they told her the sheriff had given them permission to stay, she said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 23, 2007 01:27 PM
Posted to Indiana Law