Framework emerges for sex offender residency rules

The city's Public Safety Committee will begin debate next week on an ordinance that would regulate where persons convicted of serious sex offenses against persons under 14 can live. As proposed, these offenders would be banned from living within 750-feet of city-owned parks and all schools. Although current offenders would be grandfathered, this map shows in red areas of the city that where sex offenders could not move to if the rule is adopted.

Many convicted sex offenders would be banned from living within 750 feet of schools and municipal parks under a proposal before the city's Public Safety Committee next week.

In its current form, the ordinance would prohibit persons convicted of serious sex crimes against persons under the age of 14 from moving within 750 feet of public and private schools and municipally-owned parks. Sex offenders currently living in these areas would be grandfathered under the ordinance and would not be required to move.

Anyone found in violation of the ordinance would have 25 days to move out or face a civil penalty. Landlords could also be subject to a fine for allowing a sex offender to move into restricted zones.

Councilor Dory Waxman proposed the ordinance late last year after word broke that 17 sex offenders were living across the street from Portland High School. Waxman said she was concerned that there "wasn't anything on the books as far how to address" the situation.

In an interview this week, she said residency regulations for sex criminals is "a public safety issue for all concerned -- the offenders as well as the children going to school in close proximity to where these folks are living."

The city's Public Safety Committee will take a first look at the proposal on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall. Councilor Dan Skolnik, who chairs the committee, said in an email message that debate over the measure could last several months.

A state law passed last year gives cities and towns authority to regulate where anyone convicted of class A, B, or C sex crimes against persons 14 years old or younger can reside. Existing state law already bans sex offenders from entering public parks, school grounds and even private property where children are present, such as daycare centers.

Under the law, cities and towns can also pass residency restrictions ranging from 250 feet to 750 feet, but both Waxman and Portland Police Chief James Craig said they preferred the 750-foot restrictions outlined in the current proposal. The ordinance wouldn't prohibit sex offenders from walking or passing through restricted areas but would ban them from living within those areas.

As proposed, offenders and landlords could be fined for failing to comply with the ordinance. Both landlords and the offending tenant can avoid a fine for the first violation if the tenant moves out within 25 days. After that first warning, offenses range from $500 for the first offense to $2,000 for third offense and subsequent offenses.

If a tenant refuses to move out or a landlord fails to start eviction proceedings, city attorney Gary Wood said the city could ultimately ask a judge to intervene.

Portland has about 140 sex offenders, according to police records, and most of them live on the Peninsula. But most of the Peninsula would be off-limits with a 750-foot restriction around parks and schools, according to a map released by the city (see map, page 13).

Zach Heiden, staff attorney for the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said the group has "serious concerns" about the ordinance. "Residency restrictions, we believe, tend to drive people underground. The harder you make it for people to find a place to live or find an apartment, the more likely they are to try to change their identification to escape the law's requirements."

He says creating a 750-foot restriction would make it difficult for many sex offenders to find housing in Portland. "I think this will make us less safe because it will drive these people underground," he said.

Councilor Kevin Donoghue, who sits on the Public Safety Committee, said he too has concerns about the policy.

"We have an interest in registered sex offenders having addresses and also have an interest in curbing homelessness, and in the sense that this could do more to advance homelessness, I'm opposed" he said.

Added Donoghue, "We as a city can't afford more homelessness. My fear is the effect of this is no increase in public safety and an increase in homelessness."

According to city records, at least 13 sex offenders living in Portland are listed as "transient."

Waxman, who served on the Public Safety Committee last year but wasn't assigned to it this year, plans to be involved with the ordinance as it moves forward. Still, she said it will be the up to the committee to decide whether it's "good social policy" to regulate where certain sex offenders are allowed to live.