Ray Larson to speak at TBNA meeting regarding registered sex offenders!

[Dani]

Good morning! The end of March will bring us to our next Tatesbrook
Neighborhood Association Meeting, and we wanted to let you know of the
plans for the meeting and give you the opportunity to send any
questions that you would like answered. Fayette County Commonwealth’s
Attorney Ray Larson will be our guest speaker on March 28, 2010, at
7:00pm at The Church at Tatesbrook, 3724 Appian Way. Mr. Larson will
be discussing the issues and laws regarding sex offenders and the
notification of neighborhoods to their presence. He will also be
answering questions from attendees about these issues.

We are also inviting Sherriff Kathy Witt to join us for the meeting on
the 28th. We would like her to be available to answer questions
regarding the Sherriff’s department’s duties to notify the public and
monitor the registered sex offenders residing in Fayette County.
Sherriff Witt has not confirmed yet, but we are working with
Councilman Myers to have her present as well.

This meeting is being held in response to the notification of two
registered sex offenders moving into the area and residing within
1,000 feet of a public park. While this appears to be in violation of
posted law regarding where registered offenders may live, they are
actually not in violation because their offenses occurred prior to
July 12, 2006.

Here is the information from the Kentucky State Police website:

KRS 17.545 prohibits registered sex offenders from living near
schools, daycare facilities and publicly owned playgrounds. These
offenders are prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a high
school, middle school, elementary school, preschool, publicly owned
playground, or licensed day care facility. The measurement is taken in
a straight line from the nearest property line of the school to the
nearest property line of the registrant's place of residence. This
restriction does not apply to a youthful offender probated or paroled
during his or her minority or while enrolled in an elementary or a
secondary education program. However, once the youthful offender
registrant attains the age of majority (18 years old) and is no longer
a student in an elementary or secondary education program he or she is
subject to the residence restriction at that point. In addition,
offenders under supervision may be restricted by the conditions of
their probation or parole from living or working in areas where
children are present, depending on the conditions placed upon them by
the sentencing judge or the parole board.

In Com. v. Baker, 295 S.W.3d 437 (Ky.,2009), the Supreme Court of
Kentucky stated in part that:

"The question of law to be answered is whether KRS 17.545, which
restricts where registered sex offenders may live, may be applied to
those who committed their offenses prior to July 12, 2006, the
effective date of the statute. We hold that it may not."

The Kentucky State Police do not evaluate or approve particular
locations for compliance with sex offender residence restrictions.

Please let me, or another officer of the TBNA know your questions that
you would like posed to Ray Larson for the March 28, 2010 neighborhood
association meeting. This way he will have time to accurately and
completely prepare an answer for your concerns. Also, feel free to
let myself or the other officers know of any questions you have about
the meeting itself.

Thank you,
Dani Petermann
VP TBNA