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SPONSOR: |
Carraro |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
|
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Sex Offender Registration Requirements |
SB |
569/aSPAC |
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Fox-Young |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
$0.1
Significant |
Recurring |
General
Fund |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Responses
Received From
Administrative
Office of the Courts (AOC)
Attorney
General’s Office (AG)
Administrative
Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)
Public
Defender Department (PDD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of SPAC Amendment
The Senate Public Affairs Committee removes
juveniles from the definition of “sex offender.”
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Bill 569 amends the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act. The
bill:
Significant
Issues
The Attorney General (AG) reports that there are
several constitutional challenges pending in the New Mexico Supreme Court, the
New Mexico Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the
interpretation and enforcement of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification
Act.
The pending cases are:
State v. Brothers,
Doe v. Otte, 259 F.3d 979, 9th
Cir. 2001)
On
AG notes that registration for the entirety of the sex offender’s natural life, as required by the bill, may be interpreted as punitive.
AG notes that the provisions of the bill may conflict with the New Mexico Children’s Code, where juvenile offenders are not convicted of a crime but rather are found delinquent, and courts are required to seal the records of juvenile offenders.
The Public Defender Department (PDD) notes that
the bill conflicts with the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution
in that it infringes upon the right of citizens to travel.
AG reports that
legislation regarding the Jacob Wetterling Crimes
Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program, 42 U.S.C.
§ 14071, is currently pending in Congress and that states’ registration and
notification requirements may change pursuant to such legislation.
Effective enforcement of visitor registration and of
registration within the 24-hour time limitation for all sex offenders is near
impossible.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The provision that sex offenders shall renew
registration every ninety days, as opposed to annually, will have a significant
fiscal impact on sheriffs’ departments statewide and on DPS.
The Public Defender Department (PDD) notes that
the number of sex offenders charged with felony convictions is likely to
increase enormously as a result of the bill.
Courts, district attorneys and PDD will likely see a significant
increase in costs as a result of such litigation.
The appellate caseload will likely
increase as well, meaning that courts, AG and PDD will likely need additional
resources.
Sex offenders’ failure to comply with the
provisions of this bill will likely result in an increase in probation
violations. This phenomenon will likely lead to growth in the prison
population, prompting a significant increase in costs to the Corrections
Department (CD). Additionally,
there will likely be an increase in felony convictions as a result of the
bill. PDD notes that because individuals
who must register have already been convicted of felonies, convictions for
failure to comply with the expanded registration requirements of the bill will
subject them to an additional 2 ½ years in prison.
The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) notes that
the bill does not provide for a method of obtaining DNA samples, preventing
contamination and providing appropriate chain of custody.
AG notes that the provision that the sex offender submit “motor vehicle registration with a description of all motor vehicles owned” does not provide for partial ownership of motor vehicles. Additionally, the provision that the sex offender submit “all residences he owns, specifying which address is his primary residence” does not include all residences at which the offender may reside.
AG recommends
including specific language providing that juveniles who are found delinquent
of a sex offense shall register as sex offenders.
JCF/prr/ls