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Can registrants visit schools in Florida?
It has concerned me for some time that some of our members think they can visit schools in Florida once they are off all sanctions. Florida Statute 856.022, subsection (1) lists the criminal offenses, where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense, for which certain requirements must be followed. Any person who violates any of these requirements commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.
Florida Action Committee is not a law firm and can only share what the statute states.
Taking an excerpt from F.S. 856.022:
(4) It is unlawful for a person described in subsection (1) to:
(a) Knowingly approach, contact, or communicate with a child under 18 years of age in any public park building or on real property comprising any public park or playground with the intent to engage in conduct of a sexual nature or to make a communication of any type with any content of a sexual nature. This paragraph applies only to a person described in subsection (1) whose offense was committed on or after May 26, 2010.
(b)1. Knowingly be present in any child care facility or school containing any students in prekindergarten through grade 12 or on real property comprising any child care facility or school containing any students in prekindergarten through grade 12 when the child care facility or school is in operation unless the person had previously provided written notification of his or her intent to be present to the school board, superintendent, principal, or child care facility owner;
2. Fail to notify the child care facility owner or the school principal’s office when he or she arrives and departs the child care facility or school; or
3. Fail to remain under direct supervision of a school official or designated chaperone when present in the vicinity of children. As used in this paragraph, the term “school official” means a principal, a school resource officer, a teacher or any other employee of the school, the superintendent of schools, a member of the school board, a child care facility owner, or a child care provider.
Exceptions are noted at the bottom of the statute.
As stated in F.S. 856.022, “This paragraph (4)(a) applies only to a person described in subsection (1) whose offense was committed on or after May 26, 2010.” It means exactly what it says it means. Paragraph (4)(a) is a paragraph. If the Legislature meant for the entire section to not apply to persons with offenses on or after May 26, 2010, then that is what the law would say. F.S. 856.022 is a section. (4)(a) is a paragraph within the section.
All of F.S. 856.022 applies to all persons forced to register due to an offense with a victim under age 18 except the part about approaching a minor to discuss sexual matters in paragraph (4)(a).
An educated guess as to why the exception was added to paragraph (4)(a) would be that FDLE advised the Legislature at the time that since this was a prohibition on speech, which must survive strict scrutiny and not the much lower “rational relationship” test for prohibitions that do not involve fundamental rights, it would be safer to not make that specific provision retroactive.
There is no fundamental right to loiter, prowl, or be present in a K-12 school. There is a fundamental right to have freedom of speech.
In November of 2019, FAC sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education after receiving complaints from parents who were denied access to their children’s school events. You can read the reply we received here.
For the protection of those people who fall under the specifications given in F.S. 856.022, subsection (1), please follow the requirements given in this statute.
I appreciate the help I received from members in gathering data for this post.
Here’s the original 856.022 statue from 2010: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/856.022
It was enacted by this act/rule: https://laws.flrules.org/files/Ch_2010-092.pdf
“Section 19. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
Approved by the Governor May 26, 2010.
Filed in Office Secretary of State May 26, 2010”
Therefore, the entire statute cannot be enforced on anyone whose date of offense is prior to May 26, 2010. If it has been, this statute is ripe for challenge under ex post facto and denial of due process, IMHO.
To prevail in an ex post facto lawsuit, as suggested above, one would presumably have to prove to the court that barring registered sex offenders from schools is not actually a safety measure. Along the way, one would have to put up with headlines such as, “Sex Offenders Sue to Get Access to Schools.”
Can they? Yes.
Is it a good idea? Absolutely not.
Things is, these new security measures at schools feature facial rec and license plate readers and are most likely in please at all exits. So, do you want to tempt your fate young grasshopper?
They don’t care about context or nuance. as to why you’re there.
Facts
And the embarrassment of possibly getting arrested in front of your kid
F.S. 856.022, paragraph (4)(b)1, which pertains to being present in a child care facility or school, does not list any exemptions. FAC is not a law firm. If you have any questions concerning the interpretation of this statute, you should consult an attorney. We are only sharing what the statute says. Please be careful.
I can not answer that I am not an Attorney. I was seeking clarification as well.
So my conviction was in 2008 and I have a daughter in 2nd grade. Am I exempt from this?
No, you are not exempt from F.S. 856.022 if the victim of your offense was under the age of 18 and you are required to register in Florida. Due to the date of your offense, you are only exempt from the paragraph that makes it a crime to approach a child to discuss anything of a sexual nature while in a park.
When it comes to that provision, all I can say is that in my opinion, if a person forced to register were caught by the police doing that, regardless of the date of their offense the police would find something to arrest them for, such as F.S. 787.03 (“Interference with Custody,” which is a third degree felony–more severe than the misdemeanor created by F.S. 856.022).
Incognito, Best thing is to do follow follow the guidelines in 4(B)(1)(2)and (3). Reach out to the principle and ask for a meeting and explain your situation. If you get his permission in writing then when you wish to attend just let him know so I can assign someone to watch over you while on campus.
Do not let this ruin you being a parent. You only get one shot at that. Your offense was over 16 years ago. Explain that.
Good Morning,
So what you are saying is that if your offense was before 2010 4A does not apply but the rest does. I mean all my kids are grown, well my older 2 and my senior is homeschooled so I have no reason to be at a school anyway.
Thank you for info and clarification
My conviction was in 2008, so is it saying I can go to my daughter’s school functions?
I was never prohibited from being anywhere where children under 18 gathered, including schools, churches, parks, playgrounds. And I was never prohibited from living within 1000 feet of a school or anywhere children would gather. Yet, I still had to register even though the judge in my case never included registration in my sentencing memorandum. It still baffles me to this day.
Peter, it does not matter whether or not the judge mentioned the registry in your sentencing memorandum. The registry is not part of your sentence, but a collateral consequence of your conviction. I’ve said it before, but I wish that the registry was written into criminal statutes as punishment like incarceration and fines. It would then unambiguously be punishment and ex post facto claims would be much easier. As it stands, the registry is a “civil regulatory” measure. So legislatures essentially have carte blanche to impose restrictions in the name of public safety, not punishment.
I did have one question about your post. You said you were never prohibited from entering various locations. My question is, prohibited by whom? You may very well be prohibited from those places and not know it because you had not read every statute, ordinance or binding court precedent. You are subject to the whim of any political body that can make a law at any level. States like Florida really suck in that regard.
It was written in the sentencing memorandum by the Judge in my case. My case involved calling an escort service asking for a date with one of the girls pictured on the website. To make a long story short, the girl was a minor working as an escort. My attorney worked out a plea deal for 4 years in prison, but at the sentencing hearing, the judge threw out the deal saying that it was too harsh. At my hearing, one of my witnesses who testified on my behalf was the woman from the Probation and Parole office who wrote my recommendation for the court asking for no jail time, and 5 years of sex offender probation. In his decision, the judge said that he had never seen a case like mine, said that “even though this wasn’t entrapment in the legal sense, it was a form of entrapment. He was set up”. I did 3 months in county, 7 years of SO probation. When the ASA asked about being around minors, he interrupted her and said “no, this case doesn’t require those prohibitions of being around minors, or living near schools. I live less than 1,000 feet from a high school and the sheriff’s office never gave me a problem.