BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – People who are considered “low-risk” sex offenders are required to be registered for at least 15 years. A House bill looks to see if that’s too long.
Originally, House Bill 1231 called for the minimum to be at seven years before you could petition for removal. Senators amended the bill to make it a study to figure out if any lowering is appropriate.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee say there was too much debate to be confident in enacting immediate change.
“We have some issues to look at. That’s why we proposed this as a shall study [bill]. It’s that important of an issue,” said Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinberg.
The House will need to vote on the change.
Likely another glorious example of government waste. There are volumes of existing research showing the registry accomplishes absolutely nothing, and virtually none showing otherwise.
Registry supporters simply won’t accept the near-certain results of this proposed study. I anticipate their take will be something like “Well, if lifetime registration is ineffective, let’s register the next five generations of their family in case they are reincarnated.”
Why re-create the wheel when several states have already done the research for you like NJ did with a 20-year study. Is the ND study going to take another 20-years to come to the same conclusion? It is asinine that states do not believe other states’ research work. Why not ask CA about it’s transformation from all lifetime to its three tiered registry? Just have ACSOL provide the ND state with all of its documentation and how the registry population is constantly shrinking.