Georgia school districts embroiled in enforcement of sex offender law
Thanks to a recent federal court ruling, Georgia's 181 school districts have become embroiled in enforcement of Georgia’s new sex offender law. School boards must now decide whether to formally designate local school bus stops, enabling police to enforce a new law that restricts registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of the stops. The choice could put school boards at odds with sheriffs, many of whom have argued that the provision is difficult to enforce and could backfire by forcing offenders to abscond from the registry.
The court ruled that the bus stop provision could not be enforced until school boards have formally designated each stop. The decision suggests that once a school board or school district official designates bus stops, local law enforcement may step in to enforce the law. At least one school board, Columbia County’s, has voted to formally recognize its bus stops. "Our board didn't give a lot of thought one way or the other," says superintendent Tommy Price. "… We saw no reason why we shouldn't formally approve them." The Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), which had challenged the sex offender law, went back to the court seeking to enjoin the Columbia county sheriff’s department from enforcing the law. "Through a mistake by Columbia County's school board, they've unknowingly stumbled into the business of evicting 40 families out of their homes," says SCHR director Lisa Kung.
Although many states and municipalities bar sex offenders from living near schools, Georgia’s law is unique because prohibits offenders from living, working, or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather, including schools, churches, parks, gyms, swimming pools, or one of the state's 270,000 school bus stops. SCHR argued in court that the bus stops are so concentrated in residential areas that the provision would effectively ban sex offenders from living in some urban and suburban areas. For example, all but three of Bibb County's sex offenders would have to move to avoid the buffer zones surrounding the county's 4,700 school bus stops, while DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown says the new zones effectively ban all 490 offenders from living within DeKalb. Although state attorneys initially insisted that the bus stop provision is necessary to protect children, in court they argued for the first time that the law is unenforceable because school boards have not formally designated the stops. The court appeared swayed by the state’s argument but indicated it was "deeply troubled" by the law's potential impact and made clear that its ruling did not consider whether the law is constitutional. The Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) is urging school districts to proceed with caution and take no action until more information is available. "We need time to look at the ruling and really see what it says," says GSBA spokeswoman Laura Reilly. "And then we need to have some rational thought over what policies are in place now. Then we'll decide what needs to be done."
Macon Telegraph
By Greg Bluestein (Associated Press)
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