San Benito County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz has proposed a new
ordinance that would require landlords to do background checks on
prospective tenants to determine if they are sex offenders.
Hollister – San Benito County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz has proposed a new ordinance that would require landlords to do background checks on prospective tenants to determine if they are sex offenders.
De La Cruz submitted his proposed ordinance to County Counsel Claude Biddle Thursday, and hopes to find out if it is suitable to take before the board sometime next week, he said.
The ordinance would require landlords to notify the supervisor in their district whenever they rent to a sex offender. De la Cruz says that supervisors would then have the opportunity to educate nearby residents about the presence of a sex offender.
“There have been individuals molesting and killing children throughout the nation. I want to make sure it doesn’t hit our community,” De La Cruz said. “I know they have their constitutional rights, but we should at least educate the public.”
California law prohibits discrimination in housing based on a person’s status as a sex offender.
A landlord who was discovered to be renting to a registered sex offender without having notified their supervisor could be fined $100. The fine would jump to $1,000 for a second offense.
If it becomes law it would apply to residential rental properties within a one-mile radius of a school, park, bus stop or facility that provides services to children. The proposed ordinance has no system to monitor compliance.
“We have to do more research on that,” he said. “It’s more of a volunteer program.”
Any funds garnered through the ordinance would be divided up between the county’s general fund and the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, De La Cruz said.
District Attorney John Sarsfield said he understands De La Cruz’s concern about sex offenders, but he said the ordinance as he understood it isn’t clearly enough defined and could put members of the Board of Supervisors in the position of enforcing their own laws.
“It sounds problematic. I’m concerned there are some constitutional issues this would raise, such as interfering with a landlord’s ability to run their business,” he said. “If Mr. De La Cruz is serious about doing something to stop crime then he should fund adequate levels in law enforcement and not play games like this.”
There are approximately 150 sex offenders in San Benito County, although only 66 are listed on the state’s Megan’s Law Web site, which provides a photo, address, offense and description.
The offenders not listed, who were charged with minor crimes such as a Peeping Tom arrest, can still be accessed by viewing the Megan’s Law CD at the sheriff’s department. There is no charge to view the CD, however an appointment must be made.
Sheriff Curtis Hill, who was unaware of the proposed ordinance, said his staff keeps up-to-date files on all the sex offenders within the county, and occasionally posts fliers in neighborhoods where high-risk offenders reside.
There are only two high-risk offenders in the county, he said.
“There’s a guy in the county who lives at the Betabel RV park. My guys go over on a regular basis and post fliers on telephone poles and in the laundry room,” he said. “These folks all know.”
Hill didn’t have much of an opinion on De La Cruz’s ordinance, but said he wouldn’t object if board members feel the need to adopt it.
“Sex offenders are getting more and more restrictions placed on their movement,” Hill said. “The requirement to maintain lawful behavior in communities is only going to get tougher.”
Hollister landlord Kathleen Vo, who owns some rentals near a school, said she has never done a background check on a tenant to determine if they are a sex offender, and said she would only do one if she had to.
But first on her priority list is a credit check to determine if they can pay their rent on time, she said.
“I think it’s a good idea in the long run,” Vo said. “If it passed, I wouldn’t be upset about it. It would protect all the little girls out there.”
State law doesn’t require landlords to do a sex offender background check before renting to someone, according to California Attorney General spokeswoman Mariam Bedrosian. California law does require a sex offender to inform local police when he or she moves into a community.
Bedrosian added that she knew of no other California county that had an ordinance similar this.
The proposed ordinance would not require landlords to do background checks on existing tenants, De La Cruz said.
“We want to make sure the next person who comes into this community doesn’t have a free ticket to live wherever they want and prey on children,” De La Cruz said.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
