Fort Worth has few restrictions on where sex offenders can live. Will that change?
Registered sex offenders in Fort Worth can, mostly, live where they want to — but that may change soon.
The Fort Worth Public Safety Committee met on Nov. 4 to continue discussing potential restrictions on where registered sex offenders can live within city limits.
The committee originally took up the issue at their October meeting after city council member Charles Lauersdorf said that he was motivated to explore new restrictions when he learned that a registered sex offender who had been convicted of aggravated assault on a child lived a few hundred feet away from a school.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the committee viewed an updated proposal and discussed bringing it to the City Council.
What is the proposal?
The Public Safety Committee is considering a few ways to establish these residency restrictions.
At the Nov. 4 meeting, assistant city attorney Trey Qualls explained that the city can prohibit specific types of sex offenders from living within a certain radius around places “where children commonly gather,” creating a “child safety zone.” Under the city’s proposals, these would include:
- Schools (including charter schools)
- Daycare facilities
- Parks
- Playgrounds
- Pools
- Community centers
- Libraries
The city could choose a 1,000-foot, 1,500-foot, or 2,000-foot radius around these child safety zones.
A 1,000-foot radius around child safety zones would prohibit registered sex offenders from living in 51% of the city’s territory. A 1,500-foot radius would raise that percentage to 65%, and a 2,000-foot radius would bring it up even higher to 75%.
Who would this affect?
According to the committee, the new restrictions would affect sex offenders whose victims are children. Registered sex offenders who fall under that criteria and already live in an affected area would not have to move, but the new rule would impact offenders trying to relocate. There would be some exemptions, Qualls explained, including situations in which offenders have been pardoned, or if the offender was convicted as a minor. Lauersdorf explained that the committee wants to draft a policy that allows for flexibility.
“I’m always concerned about unintended consequences, and how could this hurt our [police department],” Lauersorf told the Star-Telegram. “What I did not want is for Fort Worth to be seen as a safe haven for those who have committed some of the most heinous crimes.”
What does Texas state law say?
Texas does not have any blanket statewide legislation in place governing where people who are registered sex offenders can live. There is a provision of the state’s criminal code stating that residency restrictions can be imposed by a judge as a condition of supervision for offenders on parole or probation, but for the most part, it is up to individual cities and counties to decide where to put restrictions in place.
What do critics think?
“Residency restrictions are just a comfort factor — that’s it,” said Mary Molnar, the executive director for Texas Voices for Reason and Justice, a nonprofit organization that advocates against the current sex offender registry model. “Most sex offenses are committed by someone the victim already knows, and by someone who is not on the registry. So there are unintended consequences for these type of restrictions.”
Research shows that recidivism rates are generally lower for sex crimes, and it’s unproven that residency restrictions deter sex crime overall.
“There is no empirical evidence that residency restrictions reduce sex crimes or any other type of crime,” wrote Dr. Matthew Ferrara, a forensic psychologist who was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to the Crime Victim Institute Advisory Council in June, in a letter to the committee provided to the Star-Telegram.
What happens next?
A decision was not made at Tuesday’s meeting. The committee agreed to have the proposal revised, and then it will either be brought back for another work session or brought directly to the City Council.
