MOUNT VERNON — As the Ohio Supreme Court prepares to tackle the legality of evicting some sex offenders from homes within 1,000 feet of a school, one Cleveland area legislator plans to introduce a bill that would make simply living there a crime.
State Rep. Timothy DeGeeter, D-15, first proposed the legislation in 2005. The bill, which was not adopted, would have made it a fifth-degree felony for a registered sex offender to live within 1,000 feet of a school.
DeGeeter said he plans to reintroduce a similar bill sometime this year, with some updates and revisions.
“The previous bill would have made this a felony, but we are open to maybe making it a misdemeanor,” he said, adding that the new bill may only target specific types of sex offenders.
In 2005, county prosecutors were given the authority to evict sex offenders who are found living within 1,000 feet of a school. According to DeGeeter, a criminal penalty could speed up the process.
“If there is simply a criminal penalty attached to this rule, then law enforcement can go in, arrest them and remove them from the home,” he said, adding that he is considering meeting with members of the Ohio Prosecutors Association to hear their views on what kind of legislation would be helpful to them.
Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher serves on the legislative committee of the association. He said he looks forward to seeing the draft legislation so the committee can evaluate it.
On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court decided to hear the case of a sex offender who claims he cannot be forced to move from his home, because he was convicted before the state instituted the 1,000-foot rule.
The offender was ordered to move from his Cincinnati-area home. The ruling was upheld by the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals, but another appellate court issued a conflicting decision in a similar case.
The proposed 1,000-foot legislation is just one of many bills being discussed that would crack down on Ohio sex offenders.
A bill introduced by State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, and a matching bill brought forward in the House by Rep. Michael DeBose, D-Cleveland, is revisiting the issue of special license plates for sex offenders.
In a written release, Coughlin said the bill would require the use of fluorescent green license plates on vehicles that belong to registered sex offenders.
A similar bill, which would have required pink plates for sex offenders, was introduced by DeBose in 2005. It was partially based on an Ohio law requiring repeat drunk drivers to use special license plates to identify them to the public.
The 2005 bill was never passed. It enjoyed some public support, but also had detractors. Opposition included the Prison Reform Advocacy Center, which called the plates, “a political gimmick,” and argued that the plates would not prevent sex crimes.
Locally, Rep. Thom Collier, R-90, has also drawn up draft legislation that would make allowing a sex offender to live in a home where a child was present a form of child neglect.
In a previous interview, Collier said the idea was sparked when he read a Mount Vernon News article about a local man who claimed that a registered sexual predator had lived in the same home with his ex-wife and children for months.
The legislation is still being refined and will then be circulated through the House to give other representatives a chance to sign on as co-sponsors.
Collier said he hopes to have the bill assigned to a committee sometime in March.