Bill Text: NY S03957 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Prohibits level 2 and 3 sex offenders from residing within 1,500 feet of their victim or school grounds; also prohibits such offenders from attending or participating in school sponsored activities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION [S03957 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S03957-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3957
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 31, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sens. SEWARD, AMEDORE, CROCI, FUNKE, GOLDEN, ORTT, RITCHIE
          -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
          the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  correction  law, in relation to restricting sex
          offenders from residing near the residence of their victim or near any
          school
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 168-w of the correction law, as relettered by chap-
     2  ter  604  of  the  laws  of  2005, is relettered section 168-x and a new
     3  section 168-w is added to read as follows:
     4    § 168-w. Level two and level three sex offender residence limitations;
     5  penalty. 1. (a) It shall be unlawful for any level two  or  level  three
     6  sex  offender  to  knowingly  reside  within fifteen hundred feet of the
     7  residence of a victim of his or her  sex  offense  or  sexually  violent
     8  offense.
     9    (b)  The  residence  prohibition  established by paragraph (a) of this
    10  subdivision shall remain in effect for as long as the offender is  clas-
    11  sified as a level two or three sex offender.
    12    (c)  In  any  prosecution pursuant to this subdivision, it shall be an
    13  affirmative defense that, after the sex offender's conviction of  a  sex
    14  offense  or  sexually violent offense, the victim of such offense estab-
    15  lished a residence within fifteen hundred feet  of  the  sex  offender's
    16  residence.
    17    (d)  No  provision  of this subdivision shall be deemed to require the
    18  disclosure or notification of the address of any victim to a sex  offen-
    19  der.
    20    2. (a) It shall be unlawful for any level two or three sex offender to
    21  knowingly  reside  or enter within one thousand five hundred feet of any
    22  school grounds. For the purposes of this subdivision,  "school  grounds"
    23  means  any  building,  structure,  athletic playing field, playground or
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07956-01-7

        S. 3957                             2
     1  land contained within the real property line  of  a  public  or  private
     2  elementary,  parochial,  intermediate,  junior  high, vocational or high
     3  school.
     4    (b)  It  shall  be unlawful for any level two or three sex offender to
     5  knowingly attend or participate in any event or activity sponsored by  a
     6  public  or  private  elementary,  parochial,  intermediate, junior high,
     7  vocational or high school, regardless of whether such event or  activity
     8  is conducted upon school grounds.
     9    (c)  The prohibitions imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdi-
    10  vision shall remain in effect for as long as the sex offender is classi-
    11  fied as a level two or three sex offender.
    12    (d) In any prosecution pursuant to paragraph (a) of this  subdivision,
    13  it shall be an affirmative defense that:
    14    (i)  the  sex offender resides within a facility operated by and is in
    15  the custody of a local corrections department,  a  county  sheriff,  the
    16  department,  the office of children and family services or the office of
    17  mental health;
    18    (ii) the sex offender established his or her residence  prior  to  the
    19  effective date of this subdivision, or school grounds are established or
    20  extended after the sex offender has established his or her residence;
    21    (iii)  the  sex  offender  is  under twenty-one years of age or a ward
    22  under a guardianship; or
    23    (iv) the sex offender's place of residence has been fixed by order  of
    24  a  court  of competent jurisdiction, or by any federal, state, county or
    25  city agency having jurisdiction over the sex offender.
    26    (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of  this  subdivi-
    27  sion,  a  level  two or three sex offender may enter upon and within one
    28  thousand five hundred feet of school grounds for the limited purpose  of
    29  casting  his  or her ballot at his or her polling place, within such one
    30  thousand five hundred feet  area,  in  a  special,  primary  or  general
    31  election  for  which  the  sex  offender  is  registered  to  vote.  The
    32  provisions of this paragraph shall only apply  to  a  sex  offender  who
    33  provides  not  less than thirty days notice to the building principal of
    34  the appropriate school, that such sex offender will be entering upon  or
    35  near  school  grounds  for the purpose of voting. Such notice shall also
    36  state the one hour period of time during which  the  sex  offender  will
    37  cast  his  or  her  ballot,  and the exemption granted by this paragraph
    38  shall only apply to the sex offender during  such  one  hour  period  of
    39  time.
    40    3. A sex offender who violates the provisions of this section shall be
    41  guilty of a class E felony.
    42    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    43  it shall have become a law.
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