Requires sex offenders who fail to register or verify twice or more to wear a location-tracking device

4 Co-sponsors

• William J. Larkin Jr.
• George D. Maziarz
• Diane J. Savino
• James L. Seward

BILL NUMBER:S3919

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to requiring sex offenders who repeatedly fail to register and verify to wear a location-transmitting device

Purpose

This bill will require sex offenders who fail to register in a timely manner or verify their registration requirements under New York State's Sex Offender Registration Act to wear location transmitting devices.

Summary of provisions

Section One - Section 168-t of the Correction Law, as amended by Chapter 604 of the Laws of 2005, is amended to make an addition to the penalties provided when a sex offender fails to register or verify his/her information required pursuant to this article two or more times to be required to wear a location transmitting device at all times.

Section Two - Sets forth the effective date.

Justification

Terrifying examples of the need for stricter laws regulating sex offenders permeate the news across the country evening after evening. The killing of children like Jessica Lunsford in Florida is a sad commentary indeed that sex offender registration and community notification are not enough to keep our children and communities safe from such vicious predators. Law enforcement officers need better tools to be able to keep track of the most dangerous offenders, especially those who choose to ignore their registration requirements under New York State's version of Megan's Law. This legislation is based on a federal initiative, H.R. 1505, The Jessica Lunsford Act, which among its provisions would require all states to implement a policy where any sex offender who fails to register, verify or update information regarding their sex offender registration requirements two or more times be mandated to wear a GPS monitoring system such as an ankle bracelet. Should such legislation be signed into law by the President, all states will risk the loss of 10 percent of funds that would otherwise be allocated to the state under Section 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The war against sex offenders needs to be stepped up and GPS technology and the strict monitoring of the most dangerous and uncooperative offenders is a big step in the right direction.

Legislative history

2012 - S. 6073 Finance Committee - A. 1115 Corrections Committee

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law, provided that any rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of subdivision 2 of section 168-t of the correction law, as added by section one of this act, on its effective date are authorized and directed to be completed on or before such date.