Homelessness and Sex Offender Registration

For years in Ada County it has been illegal to be a homeless sex offender. A sheriff's deputy who worked the registry desk told me a few years ago that they tell offenders they must register a physical residence. Offenders who show up to register and say that they are homeless are turned away and told to return with an address. This has been going on so long in Ada County that it's become common knowledge among sex offenders. And those that are homeless, and without resources, don't even bother to report to the registry.

The temporary solution used to be the Boise Rescue Mission. But it has since relocated to within an unacceptable distance of a charter school and no longer accepts sex offenders.

Other states have dealt with the issue of homeless sex offenders and enacted "homelessness" provisions. Washington state held that, under the then exisiting statute, homeless people had no residence to report since they lacked a fixed, regular, nighttime address. See State v. Pickett, 975 P.2d 584 (Wash.App. 1999). Maryland addressed the same issue in Jeandell v. State of Maryland, 910 A.2d 1141 (MD 2006), and Twine v. State of Maryland, 910 A.2d 1132 (MD 2006). The gist of these cases was that a truly homeless person did not come within the purview of the statute as it existed at that time because the statute required registration when one changed residence. And getting thrown out on the street is not changing residence. I believe that both states went on to amend their statutes to provide for homeless registration.

Idaho Code Section 18-8307(1)(f) states that a sex offender must register "address or physical description of current residence." Throughout the remainder of the statute "residence" and "address" are used interchangeably. I have always felt that this language would permit an offender to give a "location" where they were at until they could find a fixed residence. I have been told in the past in other counties that this was the practice. Those counties did not read the statute to require a physical residence.

Nevertheless, Ada County has not shared this view. Many failure to register cases have been brought and many are in prison out of this county because the prosecutor's office rarely makes anything less than a prison offer on these cases.

The legislature amended Idaho Code Section 18-8308 this last legislative session. The newly enacted 18-8308(3) reads "A sexual offender who does not provide a physical residence address at the time of registration shall report, in person, once every seven (7) days to the sheriff of the county in which he resides. Each time the offender reports to the sheriff, he shall complete a form provided by the department that includes the offender’s name, date of birth, social security number and a detailed description of the location where he is residing. The sheriff shall visit the described location at least once each month to verify the location of the offender." This statute went into effect on July 1, 2009.

I read this statute as an explanation for what to do when an offender registers, but does not provide a physical residence address. Something I have felt the statute provided for all along. But I'm sure that Ada County will consider this "new" law. Nevertheless it will take some time to undo the standard practice in this area. Sex offenders locally will still likely run from the registry in the event of homelessness.