iowaindependent.com : Sex offender bill passes Senate unanimously, but could face GOP opposition in House.
Iowa’s sex offender laws would no longer include residency restrictions, instead using exclusionary zones and better tracking of individuals convicted of sexual crimes, following a unanimous vote in the state Senate Thursday night.
Senate File 340 ends the law banning some sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care. The new law would create exclusionary zones where registered sex offenders would be prohibited from working or visiting without permission.
“This legislation is strongly supported by Iowa prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and victims’ rights groups,” said Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield, who managed the bill on the Senate floor. “It increases supervision of violent offenders, keeps sex offenders from hanging around schools and other places where children gather, and improves the safety of our communities.”
This bill also imposes annual fees on former offenders up to $100 per year for life.
Update 25 April 2009 : Iowaindependent.com : House overwhelmingly passes sex offender bill.
The Iowa House passed revisions to the state’s sex offenders laws this afternoon by a vote of 93-3.
The bill, Senate File 340, changes Iowa’s law banning some sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care and replaces it with exclusionary zones where registered sex offenders would be prohibited from working or visiting without permission.
