Some sex offenders who committed their crimes out of state could petition to get off the South Dakota state sex offenders list under a bill passed Friday morning by the House Judiciary Committee.
SB 176 would allow an individual taken off an out-of-state sex offender list to petition to be removed from the South Dakota sex offender registry.
It would also allow a person who committed a crime in the other state that was not an offense that would land them on the South Dakota registry to petition to be removed.
Supporters said they wanted to treat all South Dakotans the same.
The measure passed the committee 11 to 2.
Republican Rep. Mike Stevens from Yankton said that under current law, the state’s courts could not remove someone from the list whose sex offense occurred in another state.
South Dakota residents: write and call if you want change. Show up in person to hearings. Who else will do it?
Just as in California, we all have to get out of our comfort zones to make lasting change.
No people group has remained silent and seen lasting change.
In my opinion, this is why California’s Tiered Registry must be changed to allow for someone who was convicted in California and who subsequently moved out of California to be able to petition California to be relieved of the requirement to register in California.
While this may seem moot, it really isn’t. This is because more and more states are allowing their out-of-state registrants to be removed off of their own registries IF (and only IF) their state of conviction (which in this case would be California) first allows them off of its registry.
I REALLY wish that ACSOL would acknowledge this and include this in future attempts to change California’s Tiered Registry laws.
This bill was signed into law by Gov. Noem on March 9.