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Washington County directs staff to screen shelter referrals for certain sex‑offender residency restrictions
Summary
County staff proposed centralized pre‑referral screening for level‑three sex offenders and other supervised individuals to keep shelters compliant with state residency rules; the board gave direction to implement procedures and a majority favored applying a 1,000‑foot proximity standard for transitional housing and shelters where children may congregate.
Jess Larson, assistant director of the Department of Housing Services, told the Washington County Board of Commissioners that staff would establish a county‑level screening step for referrals to shelters and transitional housing so facilities remain compliant with state residency restrictions for some sex offenders.
Larson said the process would rely first on the public sex‑offender registry (which lists level‑three offenders) and then request status checks from community corrections to determine whether an individual under supervision has residency conditions that bar residence where children are present. "We want to institute new screening procedures that would establish potential residency restrictions before individuals are referred to those programs," Larson said.
The proposal responds to two legal realities staff outlined: the state statute establishing residency/location restrictions applies to the highest‑risk classifications (level‑three and sexually violent dangerous offenders), while community corrections in Washington County applies a 1,000‑foot proximity practice in supervision conditions. Sergeant Colin Kurface of the sheriff's office noted the public registry lists only level‑three offenders and emphasized law enforcement’s enforcement role.
Kaylin Barios, acting director of Community Corrections, described how supervision conditions are imposed and monitored: the department supervises about 2,800 individuals and roughly 375 have active sex‑crime‑related supervision; level‑three individuals typically have no‑minor contact requirements and residence changes require permission from corrections. "Residency is determined to be within a thousand feet if the individual has restrictions related to minors," Barios said.
Staff recommended measuring proximity door‑to‑door from the shelter entrance to the nearest school or child‑care facility and evaluating each shelter at the time of siting. Larson told the board that four family shelters in the county have children on site and would automatically require the screening step; three additional facilities — including two transitional programs under development — were identified as near childcare or schools and thus candidates for the extra screening.
Commissioners discussed tradeoffs between different proximity cutoffs. Staff presented two options: 500 feet (which aligns with other local time/place/manner rules used in camping policy) and 1,000 feet (consistent with community corrections practice). Staff also quantified the operational effect: applying a 500‑foot standard would add screening to two transitional facilities representing 124 beds; a 1,000‑foot standard would include three facilities and 184 beds.
After discussion, the board gave staff direction to implement the screening procedures and a majority expressed support for the 1,000‑foot proximity standard to maintain consistency with community corrections. Staff said the procedures would be implemented administratively beginning September 1 and would be presented at the next community engagement meeting. No ordinance or formal vote was taken at the meeting; the board provided programmatic direction for staff to codify and operationalize.
The county will provide the board with the underlying statutory citations and the specific procedural language staff will use for pre‑referral checks, and staff will coordinate community communications ahead of new shelter openings.
