SCS/HS/HCS/HB 1405, 1109 & 1335 - This act revises laws concerning the registration of certain offenders, and provides for civil commitment of violent sexual offenders.

The act requires persons who receive a suspended imposition of sentence and persons found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to any of the listed crimes to register. A person who is convicted or who has received a suspended imposition of sentence for certain enumerated crimes such as kidnapping, incest and promoting prostitution, and promoting sexual performance by a child when the victim was less than seventeen years of age.

The registration form shall include whether the person was sentenced as a persistent or predatory offender, and a brief description of the crime. The act repeals the provision that the chief law enforcement official shall release information in the registration statement made by an offender found to be a predatory sexual offender. The complete statements provided by registrants are not public record. The chief law enforcement official of the county shall maintain a list of names and addresses of registrants, crimes for which they are registered, and brief descriptions of the crimes and photographs of the offenders. Any person may request the list, and any newspaper of general circulation in the county may publish the list as a public notice.

Registrants who changes address within the same county is required to inform chief law enforcement official in writing of the new address and phone number within fourteen days. If a person moves to a new county, both the chief law enforcement officials of the old and new counties must be so notified. Any registrant who changes his/her name must inform the chief law enforcement official within seven days. Predatory or persistent offenders, registrants for crimes having a victim of less than eighteen years of age, and persons who have pled or been found guilty of violating registration requirements must contact the county law enforcement agencies every ninety days to verify the information contained in their statements.

Any person required to register who includes false information in his statement, fails to register or fails to timely verify registration information when so required is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. A person who commits a second or subsequent violation is guilty of a Class D felony. This portion of the act is similar to SB 721.

This act also provides for civil commitment of sexually violent predators. This portion of the act is nearly identical to SCS/SB 515. A sexually violent predator is one who suffers from a mental abnormality which makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence, and who has committed a sexually violent offense, been committed as a criminal sexual psychopath or been found to have committed a dangerous felony with a sexual motivation. A sexually violent offense is defined as forcible rape, first degree statutory rape, forcible sodomy, first degree statutory sodomy, an attempt to commit any of the previously listed crimes, statutory rape in the second degree, statutory sodomy in the second degree, child molestation in the first degree or second degree, or sexual abuse sexual assault, deviate sexual assault, or the act of abuse of a child involving either cruel and inhuman punishment and sexual contact or photographing a child engaging in a prohibited sexual act.

The agency with jurisdiction, which includes the Department of Mental Health or Department of Corrections, shall refer the name of a sexually violent predator to the Attorney General and to a multidisciplinary team. Notice shall be provided one hundred and eighty days before the person's anticipated release from confinement, or at any time prior to release of a person charged with a sexually violent offense and determined incompetent to stand trial, found not guilty of a sexually violent offense by reason of insanity, or a person who was committed as a criminal sexual psychopath. The notice shall include the person's name, anticipated future residence, offense history, and institutional treatment.

The Directors of the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Corrections shall jointly establish the multidisciplinary team to review the person's records and assess, within thirty days of receiving notice, whether the person meets the definition of a sexual predator. The team shall notify the Attorney General of its assessment. The agency with jurisdiction, its members and employees shall be immune from liability for any conduct connected with their duties performed in good faith and without gross negligence.

The Attorney General shall appoint a five-member prosecutor's review committee, composed of a cross-section of prosecutors from urban and rural counties. The team shall review the person's records and shall assist the Attorney General in the determination of whether the person meets the definition of a sexual predator. The committee must make such a determination by a majority vote.

The Attorney General may file a petition within forty-five days after the receipt of the notice, alleging that the person is a sexual predator if such a determination has been made. The judge shall conduct a hearing to determine if probable cause exists to believe that the person is a sexual predator. Within seventy-two hours after the person is taken into custody, the person shall be provided with notice of and an opportunity to appear at a hearing to contest the probable cause determination. At this hearing, the person shall have the right to be represented by counsel, to present evidence and cross- examine witnesses, and to review and copy all petitions and reports in the court file.

If a probable cause determination is made, the court shall direct that the person be transferred to an appropriate facility for evaluation. The person may also retain experts to perform an examination on his own behalf. The examination shall be completed within sixty days after the order is received by the Director.

Within sixty days after completion of the examination, the court shall conduct a trial to determine beyond a reasonable doubt whether the person is a sexual predator. The person shall be entitled to representation, and counsel shall be appointed if the person is indigent. Either party may demand a trial by jury. Any jury verdict must be unanimous. The determination may be appealed.

If the court or jury determines the person is a sexual predator, the person shall be committed to the custody of the Department of Mental Health in a secure facility for control, care and treatment until such time as the person's mental abnormality has changed so that the person is safe to be at large. The Department of Mental Health is authorized to enter into an interagency agreement with the Department of Corrections for the confinement of such persons. The person's commitment must conform to constitutional requirements for care and treatment.

If commitment is sought for a person charged with a sexually violent offense and found incompetent to stand trial, the court shall first hear evidence and determine whether the person committed the act charged. The court shall enter specific findings, including the extent to which the person's incompetence affected the outcome of the hearing.

Each person committed shall have a yearly examination of his mental condition. A periodic report shall be provided to the court. If the Director of the Department of Mental Health determines that the person is not likely to engage in predatory acts if released, the Director shall authorize the person to petition the court for release. A committed person may also petition the court for release. The Attorney General shall have the right to conduct an examination of the person. The person shall have the same rights afforded at the probable cause hearing. The burden of proof is on the state to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the petitioner's mental abnormality remains so that the person is likely to commit a sexual offense if released.

The person may also petition the court for release without the Director's approval, which must be filed with a notice of waiver of rights and the annual report to the court. The court shall set a show cause hearing, at which the person has no right to be present but may be represented by counsel. If the court finds probable cause to believe the person is no longer likely to commit a sexual offense, a full hearing on the matter shall be ordered. The court shall deny a person's petition if the person had previously filed a petition for discharge without the Director's approval and the court determined that the petition was frivolous or denied the petition. Prior to any release, the Director of the Department of Mental Health shall provide written notice to any victim of the person's activities, or if deceased, to the victim's family. The act shall be effective January 1, 1999.
JOAN GUMMELS