VILLAGE SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE REVISTED IN RESPONSE TO OFFENDER LAWSUIT
ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 287 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO SEX OFFENDERS APPROVED ON SEPTEMBER 6
"Our main objective in revisiting this matter was to develop an ordinance that is enforceable and would allow the Village to manage risk from a public safety perspective. We aimed for an ordinance that balances protection for our community's children and the rights provided for in the United States Constitution."
...Michael Pollocoff, Village Administrator
ORDINANCE CHANGE ADOPTED IN APRIL
On April 18, the Village Board approved an ordinance repealing and recreating Chapter 287 of the municipal code relating 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 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.
These changes were made in order to create terms and conditions that were more consistent with those of surrounding communities and in order to comply with amendments to Wisconsin State law.
ORDINANCE CHALLENGED
Following adoption of the recreated ordinance, a group of ten registered offenders legally challenged its constitutionality, claiming that 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 was brought in federal court, as a civil rights claim. The plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgement, an injunction against enforcement, damages, reimbursement of attorney's fees and other relief.
FURTHER RESEARCH
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. Some studies were in favor of residency restrictions, and some were critical of the practice.
Some of the key studies that were critical of residency restrictions also offered significant qualifications to their conclusions. As an example, one study in particular, "An Evaluation of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions in Michigan and Missouri" (Huebner, et al., 2013), though generally not in support of residency restrictions, did find that "the rate of recidivism for technical violations significantly decreased for Missouri sex offenders..." (id. at 9) and "the number of sex offense convictions did decline..." in Missouri (id. at 10).
RISKS AND BENEFITS
The Village Board and staff acknowledge both the risks and benefits of considering residency restrictions for sexual offenders on a case by case basis, as presented in the studies reviewed.
Understanding that 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.
ORIGINAL DOMICILE RESTRICTION
Review of residency restrictions for neighboring communities in Kenosha County revealed that many of them have an "original domicile restriction."
This restriction allows each community to take back its own while not adding an additional burden of more than its own sex offenders to its community; the additional burden including: the risk of recidivism (reoffending); potential property value impacts; and responding to neighborhood and citizen concerns.
The Village Board and staff believe that the inclusion of this restriction will help ensure that each community has a means of becoming or remaining familiar with their own offenders, and that it would both decrease adverse impacts to the community and increase the likelihood of the offender's successful reintegration, lowering recidivism rates.
Based on available research, the Village Board and staff believes that, for all but the most violent offenders, the risk of adverse impacts declines as the offender matures, recovers, and reintegrates with society over time. It follows, that if the offender is removed from the State registration list, the offender would then also be removed from the Village residency restrictions.
SEEKING BALANCE
The Village Board and staff recognize that they cannot eliminate all risk of sexual offenders reoffending and that the ordinance must balance all of the competing policies.
The Village Board and staff understand that a local ordinance that is too restrictive could be deemed unconstitutional, and this could leave the Village unable to enforce any residency restrictions at all.
In reconsidering the ordinance, and having given the matter even more intense consideration, the Village Board recently (on Tuesday, September 6) considered and approved amendments to Chapter 287 of the municipal code relating to sexual offenders.
Through the amendments, careful attention was paid to ensure that there are ample locations for sexual offenders to reside in the Village, while still solidly providing for the public health, safety, and general welfare of the Village.
AMENDED ORDINANCE
In order to demonstrate that the intent is not to banish sex offenders from residing within the Village of Pleasant Prairie, the amended ordinance:
- reduces the distance a sexual offender must live from a protected property from 3,000 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.
WHERE TO LEARN MORE
To read the full version of the newly amended ordinance, please
click here, and under the 9-6-2016 Board Meeting, select the September 6 2016 Village Board e-packet. You can also find a copy of the ordinance by clicking "View PDF" below.
View PDF