05 LC 19
6618
House
Bill 886
By:
Representatives Murphy of the
23rd,
Coan of the
101st,
Hill of the
21st,
Wilkinson of the
52nd,
O`Neal of the
146th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 42-1-12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to the State Sexual Offender Registry, so as to provide for definitions; to
authorize the establishment and operation of a program for the continuous
satellite based monitoring of certain serious sexual offenders; to provide for
rules, regulations, guidelines, and fees; to require the participation of
certain offenders in such program and to provide for sentencing, probation, and
parole conditions; to provide for contracts; to provide for minimum requirements
for the system and its technology; to prohibit tampering with, removal, or
vandalism of certain devices or aiding, abetting, or assisting in such
proscribed conduct; to provide for penalties; to provide for applicability; to
provide for the dissemination and use of information; to provide for other
matters relating to the foregoing; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 42-1-12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the State
Sexual Offender Registry, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new
subsection (o) to read as follows:
"(o)(1)
As used in this subsection, the term:
(A)
'Serious sexual offender' means any person who is convicted in this state on or
after July 1, 2005, of any serious sexual offense; any person who is convicted
in another state or jurisdiction on or after July 1, 2005, of any offense which
would constitute a serious sexual offense if committed in this state; and any
person who has been released on probation or parole following a conviction for
any serious sexual offense and who continues to be subject to supervision by the
State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
(B)
'Serious sexual offense' means and includes any criminal offense against a
victim who is a minor as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of
subsection (a) of this Code section and any sexually violent offense as defined
in paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of this Code section.
(2)(A)
The Department of Corrections and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles are
authorized to jointly establish and participate in a serious and violent sexual
offender monitoring program. The program shall be administered by the Department
of Corrections. The Board of Corrections is authorized to promulgate and adopt
rules and regulations governing the operation of such program. Such rules shall
be adopted in consultation with the State Board of Pardons and
Paroles.
(B)
By January 1, 2006, the Board of Corrections, in consultation with the State
Board of Pardons and Paroles and state and local law enforcement agencies, shall
develop implementing rules, guidelines, fees, and procedures for the continuous
satellite based monitoring of serious sexual offenders. Such system shall
provide, at a minimum:
(i)
Time correlated and continuous tracking of the geographic location of the
subject using a Global Positioning System based on satellite and other location
tracking technology;
(ii)
Reporting of the
subject́s
violation of any location or time restrictions which have been imposed on the
subject with the frequency of reporting ranging from once a day to near
real-time reporting; and
(iii)
An automated system that provides state and local law enforcement agencies and
correctional agencies with an electronic alert when a comparison of the
geographic positions of monitored subjects with reported crime incidents reveals
that the subject was at or near such reported crime incidents. These alerts are
to enable authorities to include or exclude monitored subjects from an ongoing
investigation.
(C)
Prior to January 1, 2006, or as soon thereafter as funds are appropriated or
become available for such purpose, the Department of Corrections shall contract
with a single vendor for the installation of the hardware, browser based
software, and integration services needed to monitor subject offenders and
correlate their movements to reported crime incidents using a system meeting the
requirements of subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
(D)
The Board of Corrections, in consultation with the State Board of Pardons and
Paroles, is authorized to establish, impose, and collect fees to be charged to
and collected from those persons enrolled in the location tracking and crime
correlation based monitoring and supervision program. Such fees shall be
reasonable in amount and shall be fixed in an amount determined to be necessary
to reimburse the state for the costs of establishing and operating such program.
Fees may be waived for any person who is determined, under rules established by
the Board of Corrections, to be unable to pay such fees. Such fees may be
assessed and collected on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis as determined by the
Board of Corrections.
(3)(A)
Each person convicted of a serious sexual offense committed on or after July 1,
2005, shall be required, as a part of any sentence, to submit upon his or her
release from incarceration to a location tracking and crime correlation based
monitoring and supervision program consistent with this subsection. The
sentencing court may deviate from such requirement upon a finding that such
order is not in the interest of justice. The failure of a court to order a
defendant to participate in such a program shall not prevent the State Board of
Pardons and Paroles or the Department of Corrections from independently
mandating participation pursuant to their authority under this
subsection.
(B)
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles shall require, as a mandatory condition
of release for any person convicted of a serious sexual offense, that each such
person released under its supervision be enrolled in a satellite based
monitoring program for the full extent of his or her term of
parole.
(4)
Any person who is duly enrolled in a location tracking and crime correlation
based monitoring and supervision program and who intentionally tampers with,
removes, or vandalizes a device issued pursuant to such a program shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor on the first offense. Any person who is duly enrolled in
a location tracking and crime correlation based monitoring and supervision
program and who for the second or subsequent time intentionally tampers with,
removes, or vandalizes a device issued pursuant to such a program shall be
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment for
not less than one nor more than five years.
(5)
Any person who knowingly aids, abets, or assists a person duly enrolled in a
location tracking and crime correlation based monitoring and supervision program
to tamper with, remove, or vandalize a device issued pursuant to such program
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(6)
This subsection shall also apply to any person transferred to this state from
another state pursuant to any interstate compact for the supervision of persons
who are on parole or probation for any offense which would require enrollment in
the location tracking and crime correlation based monitoring and supervision
program if the offense had been committed in this state.
(7)
The Department of Corrections, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Crime Information Center, and all
state and local law enforcement agencies and officers are authorized to share
criminal incident information , limited to time, place, and nature of the crime,
with each other and the vendor selected by the Department of Corrections to
carry out the purposes of this subsection. The Board of Corrections and the
Department of Corrections are authorized to direct the vendor so chosen to
implement this subsection to use the data collected from the program to prepare
correlation reports for distribution to and use by state and local law
enforcement agencies and
officers."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.