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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Kernan

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/5/07

3/12/07 HB

SHORT TITLE Sex Offenders Near School Boundaries

SB 464/aSJC/aSFl

ANALYST Peery-Galon

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD)

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SFl Amendment

The Senate Floor amendment to Senate Bill 464 changes the requirement from 300 feet to 1,000

feet in regards to sex offenders living or temporarily residing within an exterior boundary of a

public school, parochial school, private school, charter school, licensed daycare center or

preschool.

Synopsis of SJC Amendment

The Senate Judiciary Committee amendment to Senate Bill 464 removes from the definition of

school “property that is used for school purpose." The amendment also removes the wording “or

be temporarily located" in regards to the sex offender being within 300 feet of an exterior

boundary of a school pursuant to the provisions of the Sex Offender Registration and

Notification Act.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 464 amends the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act to prohibits sex

Senate Bill 464/aSJC/aSFl– Page

2

offenders from living, temporarily residing, or being temporarily located within 300 feet of an

exterior boundary of a public school, parochial school, private school, charter school, licensed

daycare center or preschool or property that is used for school purposes. The definition of a

school specifically excludes post-secondary schools, such as universities and colleges.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

AOC states there will be minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and

documentation of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the judiciary would be

proportional to the enforcement of this saw and commenced prosecutions. AOC reports new

laws, amendments to existing laws and new hearings have the potential to increase caseloads in

the courts requiring additional resources.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

PED notes “school" as currently defined in the proposed legislation could include home schools

or unmarked battered spouse shelters. A sex offender could be in violation of the law without

knowing it by reason of the location of the dwelling. PED notes a broad definition of “school"

could preclude a sex offender from living almost anywhere, particularly in a more urban, densely

populated city.

AGO states the proposed legislation assumes the new provision would be enforced and punished

similar to a failure to register.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMCD states the proposed legislation will require the department to revise forms given to all sex

offenders leaving prison or being placed on parole, so that offenders are aware of the new law.

Probation and parole officers will have to ensure the supervised sex offenders do not live within

300 feet of a school boundary and file violation reports if any of the offenders violate this new

provision of law.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The proposed legislation relates to Senate Bills 439, 450 and 476 which all address issues

regarding sex offenders.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

NMCD reports the department has had some success in using the standard conditions of

probation, specifically the provision that requires the offender to obey the legitimate orders or

instructions of the probation and parole officer requiring sex offenders not to reside within 1,000

feet of an elementary school. NMCD states at least one state district judge has upheld this

condition as legitimate.

AGO reports other states have addressed related situations involving home-schooling, imposed

greater physical space of usually 2,000 feet, included parks, and provided an exception or

acknowledgement that a sex offender may need to enter school grounds for legitimate reasons,

such as parent-teacher meetings.

Senate Bill 464/aSJC/aSFl– Page

3

ALTERNATIVES

PED suggests the definition of “school building" found in Section 22-1-2 of the Public School

Code to mean a public school, an administration building and related school structures and

facilities, including teacher housing, that is owned, acquired or constructed by the school district

as necessary to carry out the functions of the school district.

AGO suggests including a definition of “temporarily located" because this phrase is ambiguous

for purposes of interpreting what behavior is included, such as is it an offense to park a van in a

school parking lot over a weekend.

AODA and NMCD suggest increasing the 300 feet to 1,000 feet or more.

RPG/nt