1275: FLOOR ANALYSIS (5-15-02) - SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY: HIGHER ED

SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY: HIGHER ED - S.B. 1275 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 1275 (Substitute S-1 as reported by the Committee of the Whole)

Committee: Families, Mental Health and Human Services

CONTENTThe bill would amend the Sex Offenders Registration Act to require certain sexual offenders employed by or students at institutions of higher education to report their sexual offense status to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the campus. The bill would take effect October 1, 2002.

Under the Act, individuals convicted of a sexual offense listed in the Act must register with their local law enforcement agency, sheriff's department, or State Police. The bill also would require such an individual to report his or her status to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over a campus of an institution of higher education, if any of the following occurred:

-- The individual was or became a full- or part-time employee, contractual provider, employee of a contractual provider, or volunteer with an institution of higher education, and his or her position required that the person be present on campus for 14 or more consecutive days or 30 or more total days in a calendar year; or his or her status as an employee or volunteer was discontinued, or he or she changed campuses.

-- The individual enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education, or he or she discontinued that enrollment.

-- As part of the person's course of studies at an institution of higher education in the State, he or she was present at any other location in the State, another state, a territory or possession of the United States, or another country for 14 or more consecutive days or 30 or more total days in a year, or the person discontinued his or her studies at that location.

In addition, the bill would increase the penalties a person may face if he or she fails to comply with the Act's registration requirements, from 90 days' imprisonment to 93, and from $500 to $1,000.

MCL 28.722 et al. - Legislative Analyst: Claire Layman

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have a minimal fiscal impact on local and State law enforcement agencies. Both agencies would encounter additional record-keeping responsibilities and the State would incur some programing costs related to changes required in data base design.

There are no statewide data currently available to indicate how many offenders are convicted of a misdemeanor for divulging information from a confidential registration or report. Under the bill an offender would receive up to 93 rather than 90 days' incarceration in a local facility. Local units would incur the additional cost, which varies by county from $27 to $65 per day. Libraries would benefit from any additional revenue generated by increasing the maximum fine from $500 to $1,000.

Date Completed: 5-15-02 - Fiscal Analyst: Bruce Baker, Bethany WicksallFloor\sb1275 - Bill Analysis @ http://www.senate.state.mi.us/sfa

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.