Bill Text: NY S01638 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits level 2 and 3 sex offenders from residing within 1,500 feet of their victim or school grounds; prohibits such offenders from attending or participating in school sponsored activities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION [S01638 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01638-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1638

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sen. OBERACKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed  to  be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and
          Correction

        AN ACT to amend the correction  law,  in  relation  to  restricting  sex
          offenders from residing near the residence of their victim or near any
          school

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 168-w of the correction law, as renumbered by chap-
     2  ter 604 of the laws of 2005, is  renumbered  section  168-x  and  a  new
     3  section 168-w is added to read as follows:
     4    § 168-w. Level two and level three sex offender residence limitations;
     5  penalty.  1.  (a)  It shall be unlawful for any level two or level three
     6  sex offender to knowingly reside within  fifteen  hundred  feet  of  the
     7  residence  of  a  victim  of  his or her sex offense or sexually violent
     8  offense.
     9    (b) The residence prohibition established by  paragraph  (a)  of  this
    10  subdivision  shall remain in effect for as long as the offender is clas-
    11  sified as a level two or three sex offender.
    12    (c) In any prosecution pursuant to this subdivision, it  shall  be  an
    13  affirmative  defense  that, after the sex offender's conviction of a sex
    14  offense or sexually violent offense, the victim of such  offense  estab-
    15  lished  a  residence  within  fifteen hundred feet of the sex offender's
    16  residence.
    17    (d) No provision of this subdivision shall be deemed  to  require  the
    18  disclosure  or notification of the address of any victim to a sex offen-
    19  der.
    20    2. (a) It shall be unlawful for any level two or three sex offender to
    21  knowingly reside or enter within one thousand five hundred feet  of  any
    22  school  grounds.  For the purposes of this subdivision, "school grounds"
    23  means any building, structure, athletic  playing  field,  playground  or

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03518-01-3
        S. 1638                             2

     1  land  contained  within  the  real  property line of a public or private
     2  elementary, parochial, intermediate, junior  high,  vocational  or  high
     3  school.
     4    (b)  It  shall  be unlawful for any level two or three sex offender to
     5  knowingly attend or participate in any event or activity sponsored by  a
     6  public  or  private  elementary,  parochial,  intermediate, junior high,
     7  vocational or high school, regardless of whether such event or  activity
     8  is conducted upon school grounds.
     9    (c)  The prohibitions imposed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdi-
    10  vision shall remain in effect for as long as the sex offender is classi-
    11  fied as a level two or three sex offender.
    12    (d) In any prosecution pursuant to paragraph (a) of this  subdivision,
    13  it shall be an affirmative defense that:
    14    (i)  the  sex offender resides within a facility operated by and is in
    15  the custody of a local corrections department,  a  county  sheriff,  the
    16  department,  the office of children and family services or the office of
    17  mental health;
    18    (ii) the sex offender established his or her residence  prior  to  the
    19  effective date of this subdivision, or school grounds are established or
    20  extended after the sex offender has established his or her residence;
    21    (iii)  the  sex  offender  is  under twenty-one years of age or a ward
    22  under a guardianship; or
    23    (iv) the sex offender's place of residence has been fixed by order  of
    24  a  court  of competent jurisdiction, or by any federal, state, county or
    25  city agency having jurisdiction over the sex offender.
    26    (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of  this  subdivi-
    27  sion,  a  level  two or three sex offender may enter upon and within one
    28  thousand five hundred feet of school grounds for the limited purpose  of
    29  casting  his  or her ballot at his or her polling place, within such one
    30  thousand five hundred feet  area,  in  a  special,  primary  or  general
    31  election  for  which  the  sex  offender  is  registered  to  vote.  The
    32  provisions of this paragraph shall only apply  to  a  sex  offender  who
    33  provides  not  less than thirty days notice to the building principal of
    34  the appropriate school, that such sex offender will be entering upon  or
    35  near  school  grounds  for the purpose of voting. Such notice shall also
    36  state the one hour period of time during which  the  sex  offender  will
    37  cast  his  or  her  ballot,  and the exemption granted by this paragraph
    38  shall only apply to the sex offender during  such  one  hour  period  of
    39  time.
    40    3. A sex offender who violates the provisions of this section shall be
    41  guilty of a class E felony.
    42    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    43  it shall have become a law.