Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety Registries topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House and Senate negotiators discuss amendments to school‑access restrictions for registered offenders in Senate sub for House Bill 21‑64
Summary
Negotiators reviewed Senate sub for House Bill 21‑64, which bars certain registered sex offenders from school property and school activities; the House proposed four amendments affecting place‑of‑worship exceptions, sentencing levels, student finish‑school exceptions, and victim‑age thresholds.
Senate and House negotiators discussed Senate substitute for House Bill 21‑64, a measure that would prohibit registered sex offenders whose underlying offenses involved a minor from entering school property or attending school activities if the offender is 18 or older.
As the bill left the Senate, the offense applied to registrants aged 18 and older whose underlying conviction involved a victim under 18; the bill made a first conviction a severity level 6 person felony, with progressively higher severity on subsequent convictions. Senators noted the bill passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support (reported as 38–2 on the Senate floor).
House members offered four amendments they had adopted in their committee: (1) allow a person on the registry to attend a place of worship meeting on school property (but to depart when the event ends) and remove an explicit polling‑place exception; (2) move the first‑offense sentencing classification from severity level 6 (presumptive prison) down to level 8 (presumptive probation); (3) allow a student who turns 18 while enrolled to finish school activities; and (4) change the age threshold for the victim from 18 to 16 in one provision. The reviser confirmed the bill definitions and the sentencing structure as they stood in the Senate version.
Why it matters: the bill affects where registered offenders may go and carries felony sentences for violations; proposed amendments would narrow some impacts (place of worship and graduating student exceptions) and reduce the presumptive sentence for first offenders.
Next steps: negotiators asked the reviser to prepare balloon language reflecting the four House amendments; the parties agreed to study the conceptual amendments and return with written amendment language for consideration.
