Complaints from town officials and the threat of a lawsuit have encouraged Schenectady County legislators to rethink two laws restricting where sex offenders can live.
All 12 legislatures present, including the law’s sponsor Ed Kosiur, D-Schenectady, voted to hold two public hearings to discuss the county’s local laws at its Tuesday, Aug. 14, meeting.
The public hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m. The first hearing will address the county’s law excluding sex offenders at all levels from living within 2,000 feet of places where children congregate, including public parks, swimming pools, daycares and schools. The legislature is considering amending the law to exclude Level 1 sex offenders and give the local villages, towns and the city more leeway to impose greater restrictions on Level 2 and 3 offenders.
The second hearing will discuss the county’s law, which forces convicted sex offenders who currently live within a restricted zone to move by Oct. 1. The legislature introduced a proposal Tuesday to rescind that law.
The laws adopted in June were intended to protect children throughout Schenectady County from convicted sexual predators and to place our community on a level playing field with other counties in the Capital District that have instituted similar restrictions, Chairwoman of the Legislature Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, said in a statement. `Some concerns were raised from members of the community as a result of the restrictions we instituted. We listened to those concerns and think this proposal addresses many of them while still providing a level of protection to our community.`
Communities surrounding Schenectady County have similar restrictions on sex offenders including Rensselear, Saratoga and Albany counties, but all these counties have a grandfather clause for offenders who were living within restricted zones before the laws were enacted.
Town officials in Schenectady County have been speaking against the laws since the Legislature enacted them in June. Town officials fear that sex offenders would move into the rural areas of the county especially in the western areas of Glenville, Rotterdam and Duanesburg.
Duanesburg Supervisor Rene Merrihew presented the Legislature with a petition signed by 750 people in Duanesburg asking lawmakers to rescind both laws.
`The town of Duanesburg has been responsive in a way I have never seen before,` Merrihew said.
She said lawmakers were moving in the right direction to consider exempting Level 1 sex offenders from the restrictions and rescinding the eviction law, but she wants to see more done. Merrihew said the Legislature should meet with local experts and consider all stakeholders before making a final decision.
A few of the county legislators who spoke adamantly for these laws in June stepped back and admitted that the laws were made in haste, and, as a body, the Legislature needed to listen closer to the public.
Robert Farley, R-Glenville said the best ideas come from the public.
`We all agree, as a Legislature, that we need to listen more,` he said. `We need to listen to our law enforcement, experts, local governments and other stakeholders.`
Farley also agreed that exempting Level 1 sex offenders was a good idea. He said Level 1 sex offenders are not the child molesters that this law is intended for.
Joseph Suhrada, R-Rotterdam, agreed that the laws needed second look.
`Politicians don’t say sorry very often, but sometime we have to,` he said. `We need to look hard at this again.`
Michael Eidens, D-Niskayuna, was one of the three legislators who voted against these laws in June. He supported the public hearings but said he also supports rescinding both laws and starting from scratch.
Eidens said the Legislature should bring in local experts and hold meetings with local law enforcement and town governments before making a decision.
`We need to come up with something workable and bipartisan,` Eidens said.
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