[Adopted 12-7-2010 by L.L. No. 3-2011]
A.Â
This Legislature hereby finds and determines that sex offenders in
New York State are required under the Sex Offender Registration Act
(SORA) to provide their permanent residence address to the State Division
of Criminal Justice Services.
B.Â
This Legislature also finds and determines that each time a sex offender
moves to a new residence, he or she must update his or her registration
under SORA.
C.Â
This Legislature further finds and determines that homeless registered
sex offenders are more difficult for the state and County to track,
as they have no permanent address on file.
D.Â
This Legislature finds that Suffolk County provides overnight accommodations
for some homeless sex offenders in trailers at Riverhead and West
Hampton.
E.Â
This Legislature determines that some homeless sex offenders do not
utilize the County's trailers, making it difficult to determine their
whereabouts on any particular night.
F.Â
This Legislature also finds that sex offenders have a high rate of
recidivism.
G.Â
This Legislature further finds that allowing homeless sex offenders
to move from community to community each night without reporting where
they are staying puts the public safety at risk.
H.Â
Therefore, the purpose of this Part 4 is to require homeless sex
offenders living in Suffolk County to report their whereabouts to
the Suffolk County Police Department each night.
As used in this Part 4, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any natural person required to register as a sex offender
pursuant to the New York State Sex Offender Registration Act, who
has so registered, and who does not have a permanent residence on
file.
Any homeless sex offender present in Suffolk County must report
his or her overnight location to the Suffolk County Police Department
by 11:59 p.m. each day.
A.Â
The Suffolk County Police Department is hereby authorized, empowered
and directed to establish a toll-free number dedicated to receiving
calls from homeless sex offenders to report a detailed physical description
of their overnight lodging location.
B.Â
The Suffolk County Police Department shall, to the fullest extent practicable, notify sex offenders residing in Suffolk County who are currently registered as homeless and any new sex offender registrant who establishes himself or herself in Suffolk County as undomiciled, of the reporting requirement found in § 745-24 of this Part 4 and obtain a signed verification of receipt of the reporting requirement from sex offenders.
C.Â
If a homeless sex offender reports his or her location in a town
or village outside the boundaries of the Suffolk County Police District,
the Police Department, upon being informed of the sex offender's whereabouts,
shall, as soon as practicable, notify the police agency whose geographical
jurisdiction encompasses the location of the anticipated overnight
location of said homeless sex offender.
Any person who violates this Part 4 once shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to one
year's imprisonment.
This Part 4 shall apply to all actions occurring on or after
the effective date of this Part 4.
