Sex Offender Management Board Summary Minutes

January28, 2013

The SOMB met in the House Hearing Room on the 2nd Floor of Legislative Hall in Dover, on January28, 2013. Present at the meeting were:

Board Members or Designees:

Chair: Commissioner Carl DanbergVice Chair: Secretary Lewis Schiliro

KarlHines Lisa MinutolaFrancesca Stasko Capt. Ralph Davis

Peggy BellSean KeblenJudge William NicholasTeresa Dunbar

John SadowskiDeanee MoranSusan SchmidhauserValerie Marek

Melanie LahutskyCheri Will

Interested Parties:

Drew FennellClaudia MellonLaurie Pezick

Kai-Stefan FountainKen AbrahamTim Collins

Pat MaichleTyler HillEvelyn Dick

Heidi Holloway

CJC Staff: Valarie Tickle

The meeting was called to order at approximately 1:35p.m. The minutes from the November26, 2012 meeting were approved as written.

Carl Danberg officially resigned as Chair and SOMB member as he has been recently nominated for a judicial appointment by the Governor. The Boardoffered deep appreciation to him for all his years of service and assistance in moving forward the mission of the Board. Secretary Schiliro, Vice Chair, then led the remainder of the meeting. The group discussed the Chair position and process for replacement. The Chair must be selected from the existing Board members. Any members interested in serving as the Chair should contact Sec. Schiliro or Valarie Tickle prior to the meeting next month.

Laurie Pezick suggested the Board be more proactive about the data collection from various agencies around the table. A question was raised as to whether the data subcommittee could convene and devise a data collection plan. Key questions related to data collection included: 1) Are there specific groups/agencies that are seeking particular data elements? 2) Is there a gap in what data we are currently collecting? 3) What data would be useful? 4) Who will maintain the data and who will have access to it? It should be noted that not all information may be suitable for public distribution. A recommendation was made that agencies represented on the Board could present the individual data they collect to the whole Board. Then data may be shared with the Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) if analysis is needed, and if SAC has resources available. The members would also need to solidify what items need to be collected and how the Board would measure “success” as noted in the Delaware code Title 11. Members agreed that they should be more proactive in this area to be able to affect legislation and prevention efforts. It would also be helpful to determine timeframes for collecting data. SAC should have input on the data plan. We need to clarify items agencies arecollecting and things we would like to collect. The type of report generated from the data would determine the involvement of CJC, SAC and possibly the colleges and universities. Data collection will be included as an agenda item for next month’s meeting as well.

The Board discussed the legislation that passed on the definition of “residency.” The Attorney General’s Office has taken the position that there is no conflict within the legislation.

Valarie Tickle updated members on the Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management (CASOM) housingfor sex offenders’ grant. The I-ADAPT (Individual Assessment Discharge & Planning Team) oversight group has agreed to implement the housing assistance. Grant funds will be sub granted to Department of Health & Social Service to administer.

Peggy Bell announced that the new registration website has been launched. Peggy also reported the number of untiered individuals to the group.

Members then discussed the document previously distributed via email on legislation from Maine regarding local and city ordinances on residency restrictions for sex offenders. The Board deliberated the level of involvement they may have in this issue and possibility of drafting similar Delaware legislation. The group talked about the level of enforcement the local municipalities have regarding the ordinances. It should be noted that these are civil, not criminal offenses and may also carry fines. Another problem with the current ordinances is that some do not have any grandfathering clauses. We must also respect the fact that local and city municipalities have individual charters and residents vote in local councils on matters such as this. It was noted that the SOMB Housing Report did recommend that we “Revisit current school zone statute by allowing judicial discretion to impose the 500ft residency restriction based on SOMB approved risk assessment on a case by case basis. State law will preside over any additional local housing restrictions for consistency purposes.” A question was raised as to whether we could or should approach the local areas directly on an individual basis. It was suggested that the State consider taking a lead on establishing on central location for information regarding sex offenders, particularly on residency issues. The current State and local information is fragmented and difficult for the public to find. A question was asked if anyone is aware of the number of citations given for local ordinance violations and if probation and parole enforces them. Probation and parole does enforce both State and local ordinances to keep offenders out of violation while under DOC supervision. An issue like this does impede progress for offender reentry. We must also consider the victims when dealing with these dilemmas. Consistency would provide the greatest benefit in terms of enforcement for police and probation and parole. The Board concurred that it is key we avoid further victimization. The idea of creating a white paper on this topic was mentioned. The housing subcommittee could take the lead and outline a path forward on this subject matter. This will be an agenda item for the meeting next month.

Public Comment–A member of the public questioned the Board on the availability of statistics on disproportionate sentences.

A member of the publicdiscussed his personal situation and difficulties with Family Court and foster care. He again suggested that a legislative member from both political parties and a sex offender be appointed to the SOMB. He suggested looking at current vacant buildings to target for possible sex offender housing options. He also mentioned that he is working with an attorney to draft legislation amending “13 Del. C. Sec. 724A (b) (2) to clarify rebuttable presumption for minor subsequent offenders.” He provided a handout for the group. Finally the member of the public announced he had a video that he would forward to the entire Board.

Adjournment: The SOMB regularly meets the last Monday of each month at Legislative Hall in Dover, DE at 1:30pm. The next meeting will be Monday February 25th. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Valarie Tickle