SALT LAKE CITY — A proposed Utah Senate bill would move certain criminal offenses from the list of those requiring lifetime registration on the Sex, Kidnap, and Child Abuse Offender Registry to a list requiring just a 10-year registration requirement.
Should the bill be enacted into law, it would allow an individual who has been required to register on the registry for life for a conviction before May 7 to:
- Petition for early removal from the registry in accordance with current statute for an individual who is required to register for 10 years; or
- Request that the Department of Public Safety remove the individual from the registry if the individual has already met the registration time frame and requirements for an individual who is required to register for 10 years; and makes technical and conforming changes.
Right now, someone on the lifetime sex offender registry must wait 20 years after being released from prison to stand before a judge for a chance to be taken off the list. That number could be changed to 12 years through Senate Bill 0155.
Sen. Todd Weiler (R-Woods Cross), the bill sponsor, says there are about 11,000 people in Utah’s sex offender database. Those offenders are either designated to be on the list for 10 years, while others are designated for life.
“Other people that have made a mistake, and it’s been decades, they’ve showed good behavior, they’ve been through therapy, I think they ought to be given the chance to make their case in front of a judge,” Weiler said. “That’s all this bill does.”
Weilder added it's on a case-by-case basis.
There are currently three levels of offenders in Utah, starting at level one being the least likely to reoffend, and level three being most likely to.
“The judge would decide if this person has shown they are no longer a threat or not. If they’re denied after 12 years, they can reapply after 5 years,” explained Weiler.
Utahns said they can see the bill from different perspectives.
“Some sex offenders may be able to move on and some not,” said resident Darwin Jepsen.
Jepsen thinks it’s important to give people a chance to bring themselves back into society.
“I think there’s judgment that would be put on the person too, from other people and job markets, potential loan services, and what not that is important," said Salt Lake City's Logn Gushiken. "It could hang with you, and the idea of it hanging for a lifetime could be tough to consider, too."
Weiler said offenders will go through specific treatment and therapy to assess their threat level while serving their sentence.
“I think that part of the criminal justice system is we want people to have a hope that they can return to it a normal status in society,” he said.
While Weiler said he’s received a lot of pushback online and in his inbox, he says he’s also received several stories from offender’s families who were asking for a change. He added that the bill does not touch the offender’s sentence, and they would still need to serve their sentence, then wait the required time before standing before a judge.
The victim of the offender would also be notified of the petition to be released from the list and would have the opportunity to object to their removal.
