Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSex Offender Prohibition in Parks - Ordinance 3969 - Amends PROOF OF PUBLICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA) SS. COUNTY OF ORANGE � I am a citizen of the United States and a CITY OF HUNTINGTON PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of resident of the County of Los Angeles; I BEACH the City of Huntington LEGAL NOTICE Beach at a regular am over the age of eighteen years, and meeting held ORDINANCE NO.3969 February 4a2013 by the not a party to or interested in the notice Adopted by the City Council following roll call vote: onFEBRUARY4 2013 AYES: Sullivan, Harper, published. I am a principal clerk of the "AN ORDINANCE OF THE Sh w,Katapod sarchiq, HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY OF HUNTINGTON NOES:Hardy BEACH AMENDING ABSTAIN:None INDEPENDENT, which:was adjudged a HUNTINGTON BFEACH THE THE EFULL TEXT OF THE MUCIS newspaper of general circulation on TONIs XALOFFENDIER NG ABLEN INCETHEACITY September 29 1961 case A6214 and PROHIBITION" This CLERK'S ante M > > > SYNOPSIS: This ordinance is ef, June 11 , 1963, case A24831 , for the Section 9.22-030 of enthe adoptsfective . days offer �-+ City's Sex Offender adoption. City of Huntington Beach, Count of Prohibition ordinance CITY OF HUNTINGTON. Y g y prohibits a convicted BEACH Orange and the State of California. sex offender from en- 2000 MAIN STREET � tering into a City park. HUNTINGTON BEACH, Attached to this-Affidavit is a true and This revised section CA lows the Chief of Policece 92648 714-536-5236-5227 complete copy as was printed and to provide written per- )pAN L.FLYNN,CITY mission for an individ- CLERK, published on the following date(s): Th C enter the park.. Published H.B. Indepen- The Chief of Police has dent 2/14/2013 the sole discretion to Thursday, February 14, 2013 provide written limits- ' Sion without any hmita- tions. certify (or declare) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on February 21 , 2013 at Los Angeles, California Signature Dept.ID CA 13-002-Page 1 of 1 Meeting Date: 1/22/2013 AwRova �°°e �'vned`5"`z�a� r�i��.13 t CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION MEETING DATE: 1/22/2013 SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members SUBMITTED BY: Jennifer McGrath, City Attorney PREPARED BY: Jennifer McGrath, City Attorney SUBJECT: Approve introduction of Ordinance No. 3969 amending Chapter 9.22 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code relating to Sex Offender prohibition in parks Statement of Issue: Amendment of the City's Sex Offender Prohibition ordinance to permit the Chief of Police to issue an exemption to an individual at his discretion. Financial Impact: N/A Recommended Action: Approve for introduction Ordinance No. 3969, "An Ordinance of the City of Huntington Beach Amending Chapter 9.22 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code Relating to Sex Offender Prohibition" in parks. Alternative Action(s): Do not adopt Ordinance No. 3969. Analysis: Section 9.22.030 of the City's Sex Offender Prohibition ordinance prohibits a convicted sex offender from entering into a City park. This revised section allows the Chief of Police to provide written permission for an individual to enter the park. As drafted, the Chief of Police has the sole discretion to provide written permission without any limitations. A previous version of the ordinance presented to the City Council created an exemption for a sex offender's access to a park for purposes limited to the education or care of a child for whom the sex offender is a parent or guardian or a sex offender's otherwise lawful presence within the walls or cartilage of a structure or other location is that is his/her place of lawful employment during hours of employment, provided that he/she commenced said employment prior to the effective date of the ordinance. This proposed language created an automatic exemption not subject to the discretion of the Chief of Police. Environmental Status: N/A Strategic Plan Goal: Maintain public safety Attachment(s): 1. Ordinance No. 3969, "An Ordinance of the City of Huntington Beach Amending Chapter 9.22 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code Relating to Sex Offender Prohibition." 2. Legislative Draft of Section 9.22.030 Item 10. - 1 xB -11 s- ATTACHMENT # 1 ORDINANCE NO. 3969 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH AMENDING CHAPTER 9.22 OF THE HUNTINGTON BEACH MUNICIPAL RELATING TO SEX OFFENDER PROHIBITION The City Council of the City of Huntington Beach does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION 1. That Section 9.22.030 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code is hereby amended, said Section to read as follows: 9.22.030 Sex Offender Prohibition. A sex offender who enters into or upon a park where children regularly gather without written permission from the Chief of Police or his/her designee is guilty of a misdemeanor. Each entry into any such area, regardless of the time period between entries, shall constitute a separate offense under this section. SECTION 2. All other provisions of Chapter 9.22 not amended hereby shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 3. This ordinance shall become effective 30 days after its adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach at a regular meeting thereof held on the 4th day of Febru ry , 2013 0 Mayor ATTEST: t � FA INITIATED AND APPROVED AS TO City Clerk F C REVIE APPROVED: City Attorney M/nx ager 11-2928.001/89363 Ord. No. 3969 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss: CITY OF H NTINGTON BEACH ) I, JOAN L. FLYNN, the duly elected, qualified City Clerk of the City of Huntington Beach, and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of said City, do hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach is seven; that the foregoing ordinance was read to said City Council at a Regular meeting thereof held on January 22,2013, and was again read to said City Council at a Regular meeting thereof held on February 4, 2013, and was passed and adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the members of said City Council. AYES: Sullivan, Harper, Boardman, Carchio, Shaw, Katapodis NOES: Hardy ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None I,Joan L.Flynn,CITY CLERK of the City of Huntington Beach and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council,do hereby certify that a synopsis of this ordinance has been published in the Huntington Beach Fountain Valley Independent on February 14,2013. In accordance with the City Charter of said City Joan L. Flynn, City Clerk Cify Clerk and ex-officio clerk Senior Deputy City Clerk of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach, California ATTACHMENT #2 ORDINANCE NO. 3969 LEGISLATIVE DRAFT Section 9.22.030 9.22.030 Sex Offender Prohibition. A sex offender shall be prohibited ibite ffeffi efi4e fi ii4e of 6 a pi1 who enters into or upon a Park where children regularly gather without written permission from the Chief of Police or his/her designee is guilty of a misdemeanor. Each entry into any such area, regardless of the time period between entries, shall constitute a separate offense under this section. 11-2928.001/89364 SUPPLEMENTAL coMMUNICATION m"ting Date:2Z�J/,3 —�— Agerds lwm No. If RNIA REFORM SEX OFFENDER LAWS(CA RSOL) 8721 Santa Monica Boulevard, Box 855 Los Angeles,CA 90069 (805)896-7854 February 1, 2013 Mayor Connie Boardman City of Huntington Beach 2000 Main Street Huntington Beach,CA 92648 Dear Mayor Boardman and Members of the City Council: There are two purposes for this letter: (1) to request that the City of Huntington Beach cease any further consideration of Ordinance No. 3969 which would modify Section 9.22.030 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code and (2) to request that the City of Huntington Beach repeal Chapter 9.22, "Sex Offender Prohibitions" of that Code. The Council's further consideration of Ordinance No. 3969 would be a meaningless act and would increase the City's legal liability. As the Council should be aware, Orange County has a similar provision in its ordinance which allows for the possibility of obtaining written permission from law enforcement to enter a public park. Orange County has only granted permission to one applicant to enter a public park despite applications from more than a dozen registered sex offenders. As the Council should also be aware, inclusion of the possibility of a registrant obtaining written permission from the Chief of Police or his/her designee does not undo the harm that has been created through the City's adoption of Chapter 9.22 because that chapter violates both the state and federal constitutions. And it does not eliminate or reduce the City's potential legal liability for that chapter. Why? Because the Superior Court of Orange County ruled in November 2012 that the Orange County ordinance which prohibits all registrants from entering all public parks and other recreational areas violates the state constitution as it is preempted by state law. Due to this court's decision, the county ordinance cannot be enforced. Although that decision has been appealed,the decision remains in effect until and unless it is overturned. A decision by the City Council of Huntington Beach to follow the example of Orange County is without merit and would continue the city's exposure to significant legal liability. A more sound strategy would be to follow the example set by the City of Lake Forest which repealed its ordinance in December 2012 after determining that its sex offender ordinance was not required because there are adequate protections, including state laws, to ensure public safety. Your decision to repeal the sex offender ordinance in Huntington Beach would ensure continued public safety as well as eliminate the significant legal liability created by adoption of that ordinance. In closing,we bring to your attention an excerpt from a report of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation issued in October 2012. According to page 30 of that report, the rate of re-offense for a registrant is only 1.9 percent, that is, less than two percent of registrants commit a second sex-related crime. This fact refutes the finding in Chapter 9.22.010(g) that sex offenders "have high recidivism rates". The complete CDCR report can be found online at www.cdcr.ca.gay. Thank you for your consideration of this request. The California Reform Sex Offender Laws organization remains available to consult with the City of Huntington Beach on these important matters. Sincerely, nice M. Bellucci, President Attorney-at-Law i . � w v. x 4 e California Department of Corrections b }7 rtt 4A And Rehabilitation r 2012 Outcome Evaluation Report ar� � r, Office of research October 2012 30 2012 CDCR outcome Evaluation Report October 2012 Examination into this finding reveals that across the three years, the greatest increase occurred in the one-year recidivism rates for sex registrants (+4.2 percentage points). As reported previously, this may be an artifact of CDCR policies related to Jessica's Law, passed in November 2006, which led to increased supervision of sex registrants. Table 11. Recidivism Rates by Sex Registration Flag ,first Releasv-50'.�` Sex Registration � r Fla Released Ret# ed 69.1% Yes 2 3,859 2,312 59.9% 4,631 3,558 76,8% 0 "5 870 5 ; Vv�MW Total 92 *i876" ' '56 Or 4.5.5 Recommitment Offense for Sex Registrants Figure 11. Sex Registrant Recommitment Offense PardIo viqlation, W,AV kl;M7 New Sex Crime �SeXFC . � , �� eA New"Fail to Register"Crime N=5,870 New Non-Sex Crime Recidivating sex registrants are more often returned to prison for a non-sex crime than for a new sex crime. As seen in Figure 11 and Table 12, a larger proportion of sex registrants return to prison for a new non-sex crime offense (7.8 percent). In response to stakeholder input, the "new sex crime" category has been further delineated to separate new crimes that were due to a failure to register as a sex offender. The results show that most of the new crimes are due to those who fail to register as a sex offender (3.5 percent) and about 2.0 percent are due to new sex crimes being committed.