NEW JERSEY SEX OFFENDER LAW UPDATE:

NEW LAW WILL GIVE TOWNS GREATER AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT WHERE SEX OFFENDERS LIVE

Cape May County and Atlantic County Sexual Assault Defense Attorney, John W. Tumelty, handles all criminal cases including sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault. The potential penalties for aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault include mandatory Megan’s Law requirements. Megan’s Law requires community notification and parole supervision.

The State Senate recently approved a law that would allow towns to prohibit Megan’s Law registrants from living within 500′ of an elementary or secondary school, playground or child care center. The law will apply to medium and high-risk Megan’s Law registrants. However, any residency ordinance may not ban those persons from residing in every residentially zoned area in the municipality and the ordinance would not apply to a registrant living within a restricted zone before the ordinance was enacted.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Fred Madden, D-Gloucester, also includes some prohibitions on municipalities. For example, school boards would be barred from locating a school bus stop within 250′ of the residence of a moderate or high-risk sex offender, unless relocation of the stop creates a more dangerous condition for a child. In making this determination, the school board would be required to consult with the town’s chief law enforcement officer and to adopt a resolution stating the reason for the relocation.