From: "Texoma Coalition"

Date: Mon May 8, 2006 10:18pm(PDT)
Subject:

Sex offender bill passes after private prisons shot down










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Posted on Mon, May. 08, 2006



Sex offender bill passes after private prisons shot down

CARL MANNING
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. - Legislation imposing tougher penalties on child
molesters and other sex offenders went Monday night to the governor's desk.

Passage of the bill, dubbed "Jessica's Law," was part of a deal
worked out by House and Senate negotiators last week, after the House rejected a
compromise bill bundling the popular sex offender measure with legislation the
Senate wanted to allow private prisons in Kansas.

The Senate voted 36-2 for the sex offender bill with no debate, and
the House followed with a vote of 122-0, after which members applauded.

Sending Jessica's Law to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius hinged on a deal
negotiators worked out Friday. It called for a House vote on prisons, followed
by the Senate passing Jessica's Law.

The House voted 74-48 against the bill allowing the Department of
Corrections to license and regulate such facilities in counties where voters
approve the idea. It also included $20.5 million in bonding authority to expand
state prisons.

"I feel like this is a positive victory in that we got Jessica's Law
separate from an unpopular bill," said Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson.

Pauls later thanked colleagues who "hung in there" until Jessica's
Law was separated from private prisons.

"A lot of people were terrified that we might not get this bill
passed," she said, referring to Jessica's Law.

Some House members didn't like the idea of obligating the state to
paying off bonds.

"We could pay cash for this and save ourselves a substantial amount
of interest," said Rep. Virgil Peck, R-Tyro. "I don't support additional debt
for our state."

Kansas law prohibits housing state prisoners in private facilities
in the state, but they can be housed in private facilities in other states.

Senators had argued for bundling the bills, because increased
penalties for sex offenders would generate the need for an additional 1,000
prison beds by 2016.

"We'll be back next year figuring out where to put all these
criminals," said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence.

House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said the message was clear.

"A lot of people feel strongly that the management and ownership of
prisons is a government function," he said.

The sex offender bill is modeled after Florida's Jessica Law, named
for the 9-year-old girl killed last year by a convicted sex offender. Arkansas,
Oregon and Virginia have enacted similar laws this year.

The bill calls for a minimum 25-year sentence for adults convicted
of any of seven violent sex crimes against anyone under 14, including rape,
aggravated sodomy and sexual exploitation.

A second conviction, no matter the victim's age, means a sentence of
40 years, and third-time offenders face life without the possibility of parole.

Once released after serving every day of their sentences, offenders
face a lifetime of parole and wearing a Global Positioning System bracelet,
which would let the state track their movements.

All other offenders, such those convicted of a first offense in
which the victim is older than 14, face lifetime parole when released. If they
violate parole, they must wear the tracking bracelet for life.

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Sex offender bill: Conference Committee Report, HB 2576.

Private prison bill: Conference Committee Report, SB 479.

On the Net:

Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org

KBI Sex Registry List: http://www.accesskansas.org/kbi/ro.shtml






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2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.kansascity.com




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