On April 18, the Pleasant Prairie Village Board approved an ordinance repealing and recreating Chapter 287 of the municipal code related to sex offenders. The April ordinance: increased the distance a sexual offender must live from a protected property from 2,000 to 3,000 feet; defined that an offender placed in the Village of Pleasant Prairie must have been a resident of the Village at the time of their offense; and outlined that one offender may not live within 500 feet of another offender.

Following adoption of the recreated ordinance, a group of ten registered sex offenders legally challenged its constitutionality, claiming the new restrictions resulted in "banishment." A similar lawsuit was recently filed against the City of Kenosha by the same firm that filed suit against the Village. The lawsuit seeks individualized consideration for offenders' residency in the Village.

In response, the Village Board and staff, along with legal counsel, redoubled efforts to research the matter. Research centered on the risks that are nationally recognized in various pieces of legislation; court decisions; related statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice; and many studies and reports concerning the recidivism of sex offenders and the effectiveness of residency restrictions.

Village Administrator Michael Pollocoff explained, "Understanding there is no perfect science behind the decision they must make, also understanding that their decision may give rise to other enforcement concerns and the need for additional police presence, the Village Board and staff believe it is important to provide clear information to those who may want to locate in the Village and that the desire for uniformity and clarity outweighs the desire for individualized consideration at the Village level."

"Recognizing that we cannot eliminate all risk of sexual offenders reoffending, we sought to balance all competing policies related to residency restrictions. We fully understand that if the new ordinance is too restrictive, it could be deemed unconstitutional, and we would be left with no ability to enforce residency restrictions at all," added Pollocoff. "Through these new amendments, careful attention was paid to ensure that there are ample locations for offenders to reside in the Village of Pleasant Prairie, while still solidly providing for the public health, safety, and general welfare of the Village."

In order to demonstrate that the intent is not to banish sex offenders from residing in the Village of Pleasant Prairie, the amended ordinance: reduced the distance a sexual offender must live from a protected property from 3,000 feet to 1,500 feet, which is similar to the setback in the State of Wisconsin's recently passed legislation; and enables one offender to live within 500 feet of another.

To read the full version of the proposed amendments to the ordinance as considered by the Village Board on September 6, please select the September 6 2016 Village Board e-packet after clicking here.