BOARD RECOMMENDS CHANGES TO RESIDENCY LIMITS

The California Sex Offender Management Board recently issued a report that questioned the effectiveness of residency restrictions. The report noted an extremely low recidivism rate for sex offenders (3.25 percent for parolees and 5 percent for those who completed parole) and concluded that most sex offenses are committed by individuals who are not on the state’s registry. The report also noted an increase of more than 100 percent in the homelessness of registered individuals. This increases rather than decreases the safety of communities, according to the Board. The full report, which was released in August 2011, can be found online at http://www.casomb.org/reports.htm.