Bill to Prevent Sex Offenders from Living Near Parks Fails in House Panel
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: March 21, 2013
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- A House Panel has rejected a bill creating tighter restrictions for where sex offenders can live.
The bill only makes a slight change to existing law, adding private parks as a place in which a sex offender cannot live within 2000 feet.
The idea comes from Northwest Arkansas Rep. Sue Scott, who says there are at least 17 sex offenders in the state that live near a private park, meaning parks within neighborhood subdivisions that are available only for residents who live there.
Scott believed she would easily pick up 11 votes to move it the House floor, instead it picked up only 10.
"I don't understand it, I would have thought this would have been an easy one," Scott says. "I visited with several of them before I presented it, and I thought it was going to pass."
The committee chairman says there were concerns about property transfer problems, and that the representative can bring the idea back up if some changes are made.
The bill only makes a slight change to existing law, adding private parks as a place in which a sex offender cannot live within 2000 feet.
The idea comes from Northwest Arkansas Rep. Sue Scott, who says there are at least 17 sex offenders in the state that live near a private park, meaning parks within neighborhood subdivisions that are available only for residents who live there.
Scott believed she would easily pick up 11 votes to move it the House floor, instead it picked up only 10.
"I don't understand it, I would have thought this would have been an easy one," Scott says. "I visited with several of them before I presented it, and I thought it was going to pass."
The committee chairman says there were concerns about property transfer problems, and that the representative can bring the idea back up if some changes are made.
Comments
Maybe, Rep. Scott, your colleagues are more interested in passing legislation that protects ALL children and ALL families instead of passing illegally-retroactive, ineffective and pointless legislation that claims to protect only some children but which really makes communities less safe. Maybe your colleagues are fit to lead Arkansas in Little Rock while you are not. Sadly, Rep. Scott, you are just another legislator trying to make a name for yourself using the term "[censored] Offender" to get yourself some headlines. Years ago, this would have worked. However, the citizens of Arkansas are waking up and are realizing that things like residency restrictions do nothing to protect children and do plenty to destabilize the lives of former offenders and their families. Maybe, Rep. Scott, it's time for you to consider being SMART on crime. Sorry you had to learn this lesson the hard way.
g4change g.
March 20, 2013 at 1:06 am
