WA: Amid Uproar Over Tenino Sex Offender Housing, Lawmakers Work on Bill to Prevent Similar Situations

Source: chronline.com 1/22/23

State lawmakers are working on a bill to prevent situations similar to the opening of a new home for individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses in Tenino that has surprised, worried and angered many area residents. 

State Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, and state Reps. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, and Travis Couture, R-Allyn, are writing legislation that would close a public notice loophole allowing private operators to house violent offenders in low-security adult group homes with minimal notice and assurance of adequate community protection, according to a news release. 

The legislation would impose stronger requirements for notice and public comment for group homes housing sex offenders who have been determined to be dangerous by the state. The three 35th District lawmakers plan to introduce the bills in the Senate and the House. 

“We want people to know we are working on legislative solutions,” MacEwen said. “No one can blame the community for being upset. This has been in the works for months, yet the neighbors found out about it just three weeks before the first sex predator is due to arrive. We’re talking about a million-dollar home with acreage, facing a small lake popular for water-skiing practice. If state agencies and the vendor really think ankle bracelets will provide adequate security, they should be willing to withstand the scrutiny of their neighbors, local law enforcement agencies, and everyone else concerned with the safety of the community.”

The proposed home would be operated by Supreme Living, a private vendor, to house sex offenders offshored from the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. The Special Commitment Center houses sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences but remain in “civil commitment” because of a high likelihood of reoffending. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is planning to place sexually violent offenders in communities around the state to address overcrowding at the facility. The Department of Corrections would be responsible when sex offenders walk away from unsecured facilities, such as the Tenino home. 

Read the full article

Related posts

Subscribe
Notify of

We welcome a lively discussion with all view points - keeping in mind...

 

  1. Submissions must be in English
  2. Your submission will be reviewed by one of our volunteer moderators. Moderating decisions may be subjective.
  3. Please keep the tone of your comment civil and courteous. This is a public forum.
  4. Swear words should be starred out such as f*k and s*t and a**
  5. Please avoid the use of derogatory labels.  Always use person-first language.
  6. Please stay on topic - both in terms of the organization in general and this post in particular.
  7. Please refrain from general political statements in (dis)favor of one of the major parties or their representatives.
  8. Please take personal conversations off this forum.
  9. We will not publish any comments advocating for violent or any illegal action.
  10. We cannot connect participants privately - feel free to leave your contact info here. You may want to create a new / free, readily available email address that are not personally identifiable.
  11. Please refrain from copying and pasting repetitive and lengthy amounts of text.
  12. Please do not post in all Caps.
  13. If you wish to link to a serious and relevant media article, legitimate advocacy group or other pertinent web site / document, please provide the full link. No abbreviated / obfuscated links. Posts that include a URL may take considerably longer to be approved.
  14. We suggest to compose lengthy comments in a desktop text editor and copy and paste them into the comment form
  15. We will not publish any posts containing any names not mentioned in the original article.
  16. Please choose a short user name that does not contain links to other web sites or identify real people.  Do not use your real name.
  17. Please do not solicit funds
  18. No discussions about weapons
  19. If you use any abbreviation such as Failure To Register (FTR), Person Forced to Register (PFR) or any others, the first time you use it in a thread, please expand it for new people to better understand.
  20. All commenters are required to provide a real email address where we can contact them.  It will not be displayed on the site.
  21. Please send any input regarding moderation or other website issues via email to moderator [at] all4consolaws [dot] org
  22. We no longer post articles about arrests or accusations, only selected convictions. If your comment contains a link to an arrest or accusation article we will not approve your comment.
  23. If addressing another commenter, please address them by exactly their full display name, do not modify their name. 
ACSOL, including but not limited to its board members and agents, does not provide legal advice on this website.  In addition, ACSOL warns that those who provide comments on this website may or may not be legal professionals on whose advice one can reasonably rely.  
 

6 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Another solution being made into a problem.

“If state agencies and the vendor really think ankle bracelets will provide adequate security…”

Gee, WI should understand this with their ankle GPS thinking. This as well applies to the rest of the nation when it comes to a registry. But, hey, whatever gets votes…