A bill to strengthen laws surrounding the placement of sexually
violent predators after they are released from prison was passed in
the Senate Thursday, and could be signed by the governor as early
as Tuesday, according to lawmakers.
A bill to strengthen laws surrounding the placement of sexually violent predators after they are released from prison was passed in the Senate Thursday, and could be signed by the governor as early as Tuesday, according to lawmakers.
Assemblymember Simon Salinas, D-Salinas, introduced the bill that would require sexually violent predators to be placed in the county they last resided in.
Currently there are no clear laws determining where sexually violent predators are released, and – because of intense public protest from communities they are set to be released into – they often are put in more rural communities without much notice, Salinas said.
“Nobody wants these folks, and they could potentially be sent to San Benito County and the community wouldn’t even know – they would just get placed there,” he said. “This (bill) would cut out the chaotic situations created by the program.”
The Senate passed the bill with a 30-0 vote, and it is set to go before the Assembly on Monday, Salinas said. If the bill gets at least 54 votes, Salinas hopes to have it on the governor’s desk either later that day or by Tuesday to be signed into law, he said.
“There is an urgency clause with it because we want it to take effect immediately because there are other folks that are coming out of the program,” Salinas said.
Senator Jeff Denham also supports the bill that will help stop the courts’ continued practice of playing “hide the predator,” he said in a statement.
“This bill will help stop the practice of judges creating dumping grounds for sexually violent predators of unsuspecting counties,” Denham said.
Salinas introduced the bill in January after a melee was created when sexually violent predator Brian DeVries was originally released in Santa Clara County but was later moved to Monterey County because of substantial public protest from Santa Clara County residents, he said.
“In the long run, the sense is that hopefully we’ll have some fairness there and have them supervised and monitored,” Salinas said. “There would be a lot of strict supervision.”
Without the bill, the judge has the discretion to place them wherever the judge chooses, Salinas said.
If the community outcry is so great that a suitable location cannot be found in an appropriate amount of time, the judge also has the discretion to release the prisoner unconditionally with no monitoring and no restrictions, he said.
Predators would be monitored by tracking devices, strict curfews, not being allowed to go certain places in the community and other restrictive measures.
Salinas said a situation such as this hasn’t happened yet, but without this bill it could.
“They would have to register under Megan’s Law, but they could be your neighbor and you wouldn’t even know,” Salinas said.
The bill also requires that the Department of Mental Health take into consideration the concerns of the victim and the victim’s family when placing a predator back into the community, he said.
“They might come back, but at least county agencies could work with the Department of Mental Health to find an appropriate place for them,” Salinas said. “Then we can be assured to not end up with these people without any notice in our community.”
