Albany County legislators will look to federal sources and Dutchess County as examples as they form a bi-partisan committee to look at where convicted sex offenders who have done their time can and can’t live.
County Legislative Minority Leader Christine Benedict, R-Albany, and Majority Leader Frank Commisso, D-Albany, have made public their intent to work together on the issue. At last month’s legislative meeting, Benedict proposed the lawmakers form a committee to explore their options after attempts to strengthen sex offender laws have failed to materialize.
Benedict’s legislative district is home to five hotels on a stretch of Central Avenue that have housed many post-release sex offenders, she said. Of those hotels, three are near residential areas and organizations where children are present.
People’s back yards abut some of these hotels. I have been approached by some people about what we are going to do, Benedict said. `It’s a big issue in every county, not just Albany County.`
Last summer, the Legislature passed Local Law F, which established residency restrictions for Level 2 and 3 convicted offenders. The law prohibits those offenders from living within 1,000 feet of areas that would provide them easy access to potential victims. Those areas were defined as public or nonpublic elementary or secondary schools and/or licensed or registered child-care centers.
However, since going into effect Sept. 1 of last year, legislators have found holes in the restriction.
Holes that include the fact that Central Avenue’s hotels and some churches fall within the 1,000-foot mark from a convicted sex offender. Legislators explored including religious institutions within the scope of the law, but stalled when questions of constitutionality arose.
Benedict said she hopes the proposed committee would lead to action on these issues and more.
Benedict said she has been talking with Dutchess County legislators who formulated a comprehensive plan to re-introduce convicted sex offenders back into their communities under a more regulated system.
That plan was put together with the help of the Center for Sex offender Management (CSOM), a federal organization that was established in 1996 through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs. The Maryland-based organization consults states, regions and municipalities on the best practices and most effective management strategies on monitoring convicted sex offenders in their areas.
Through a $225,000 grant in 2003, Dutchess County put together a plan to enhance management of juvenile and adult sex offenders by creating a standardized and unified system with a victim-centered approach, according to CSOM officials.
`A number of New York counties have received that type of support and guidance through the process. We don’t dictate what their problem is. Each state or region comes to that conclusion,` said Charles Onley, CSOM research associate.
CSOM’s work ranges in scale from consulting on plans like Dutchess County’s to training Texas probation officers on how to monitor sex offenders, said Onley.
If asked, CSOM will come to Albany’s aid, and sit in on committee meetings, he said.
Benedict has reached out to the organization and is awaiting word, she said.
As the county legislature works to form its committee, their representatives in the state Legislature are near to an agreement on a civil confinement law.
If passed, the law will allow additional confinement of sex offenders that have been identified by psychiatrists as likely to repeat their crimes. The law would confine hundreds of potential repeat offenders and hold them in secure psychiatric facilities for additional treatment.“
