FAC Weekly Update 2025-09-02-Horrible Ordinance in Putnam

Weekly update for September 2, 2025. This is recording number 325.

Dear Members and Advocates,

On August 26, 2025, the Putnam County Commission adopted Sec. 28-3, the “Sexual Offender and Sexual Predator Act.” This is the same county where earlier this year, Sheriff “Gator” DeLoach vowed to “rid the county of sex offenders” and carried out a mass eviction at a Trailer Park, literally displacing dozens of people and forcing many into tents behind the sheriff’s office. Now, instead of working toward stable housing and reentry, Putnam has passed one of the most restrictive ordinances in Florida.

Here are some of the highlights (rather low points) of the new ordinance: No registrant may live within 2,500 feet of a school, park, childcare facility, playground, or even a school bus stop. Only two registrants may live at the same address (unless family). And registrants cannot live within 500 feet of each other, nor may more than 10% of a mobile home park, apartment complex, or condo building’s residents be registrants.

Additionally, Putnam will start charging registration fees from those forced to register. People in Putnam will now have to pay $50 at initial registration, $25 for every required re-registration, and $10 for every change of address.

There’s also a proximity ordinance, where registrants may not be present, loiter, or “prowl” within 500 feet of schools, parks, bus stops, or childcare facilities (with narrow exceptions like dropping off one’s own child, voting, or attending church). Also, registrants are banned from participating in Halloween or festivals, must keep porch lights off after 5:00 p.m., and may not decorate their homes. In the event of a hurricane or emergency, registrants must immediately self-identify and will be sent to separate, Sheriff-designated shelters (including correctional facilities if chosen).

And here’s another kick in the face to anyone who thinks about renting to someone on the registry… Landlords are prohibited from renting within 2,500 feet of restricted zones to registrants. They must check the National Sex Offender Registry before renting and violations may bring fines, jail time, and property liens (against the landlord).

The Putnam ordinance goes far beyond state law, creating an exclusion zone that makes it nearly impossible to secure lawful housing anywhere in Putnam County.  The new ordinance is overly broad, punitive, and counterproductive. It continues the county’s recent pattern of displacement, rather than real solutions that protect children and strengthen public safety. If you’ve not already shared your experience with residency restrictions; now is the time to do so. It doesn’t matter if you don’t live in Putnam County (or in Lee County where the Clements case is focused on), this should be a wake up call to you that if nothing is done, what is happening in Putnam County can happen in your area. Also, if you are in Putnam County (or were considering moving to Putnam or were displaced from Putnam) and are interested in a potential lawsuit, please contact [email protected].

The passage of this new ordinance also underscores the importance of getting involved in advocacy. We need people to show up to Commission meetings to speak out against these ordinances. Last month we posted that a City in Broward is considering increasing their residency restrictions. That ordinance is coming up for a second reading and we need people to show up! We understand that it’s intimidating, we know that it’s embarrassing, but we also know that if people don’t speak out against these ordinances, they sail through. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Friends, silence is not an option! If our own members and allies don’t raise their voices, then harmful laws will keep passing, not because of what our opponents say, but because of what we fail to say and do. Every voice matters. Every presence in the room matters. Your participation could be the difference between another destructive ordinance passing or it being stopped in its tracks. Let’s rise together, stay visible, and make our voices impossible to ignore.

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee