Senate Judiciary Committee delays action on bill to allow some registrants to petition for removal after seven years

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Bismarck, legislators heard competing testimony on House Bill 1231, which would allow certain low-risk registered offenders to petition a court to terminate their obligation to remain on the public registry after seven years rather than the current 15-year period. The committee did not act on the measure and agreed to take more time to consider amendments or a study of the issue.

Representative Jason Doctor, District 7, Bismarck, said he introduced the bill to help people he described as "low *** offenders" who face severe collateral consequences despite long periods without new offenses. "My whole point to this bill was low *** offenders," Doctor said, citing examples such as elderly people with dementia who cannot enter assisted living and an 18-year-old whose consensual conduct with an underage partner left them registered. Under the bill as introduced, an eligible person who has completed treatment and had no new offenses for seven years could petition a court for relief.

Supporters told the committee the proposal offers a judicial avenue for relief that currently may be handled only administratively. Travis Fink, executive director of the Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigence, said, "This bill only allows for that petition to be brought. There's…