Flagler County adds new restrictions on where sexual offenders can reside
The Flagler County Commission has enacted new restrictions on where sexual offenders or predators may reside, increasing safety buffers around places where children are known to gather.
The commission voted 5-0 in favor of the new regulations during its June 7 meeting after Sheriff Rick Staly spoke in favor of the additional limits.
The county’s existing ordinance had barred sexual predators from residing within 1,000 feet of schools, daycare centers, parks or playgrounds. The commission’s June 7 vote adds school bus stops, libraries, churches and subdivisions’ private recreational open spaces and facilities to the list and increases the buffer from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet, or just under half a mile.
“Maybe if we make it legally difficult, they’ll move to a different county,” Staly said. “I’d just as soon they not be here at all, but unfortunately I can’t control that.”
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So does the ordinance apply retroactively (ex post facto) or only for people convicted as of the effective date? Will FAC ( I wouldn’t count on the ACLU) attempt to litigate this ordinance based on its intent to legislate banishment against us?
If people are willing to put out the money for such a lawsuit while not taking away from our current lawsuits. There are only a limited number of lawyers willing to take on such cases for a reduced fee. This case would require fees far higher than what we are paying for our current lawsuits. Do we have any millionaires out there will to finance this lawsuit?
No one needs a million dollars to challenge a local residence restriction. Nassau was successfully challenged for far less, I’m confident. Someone who’s interested can contact the lawyer who brought that challenge. He is quoted in one of the news reports on this Flagler ordinance.
Remember when FAC members challenged Seminole’s proximity ordinance? That involved no millionaires and was dismissed for reasons having nothing to do with legal fees or merits.
FAC’s Legal Committee volunteer(s) do an amazing job conferring with attorneys re which challenges seem the most meritorious and impactful. Once Ex Post Facto Plus is fully funded for the year, it might be time for another discussion re which challenge(s) would be our next priority to fund.
And how, I wonder, does the County notify those affected by this new law? Notification letter in the mail? A phone call?
Or by Deputies showing up at your front door?
Although I’m sure for those still on Probation, their P.O. would inform them of this change.
I just hope too many other Florida counties don’t jump on the bandwagon and change their laws and residency restrictions, I really don’t wanna move.
G.C.:
Knee on the neck. Very effective technique of notification.
Sheriff Staly proudly carrying the torch at the front of the lynch mob carrying on Florida’s proud tradition of lynching undesirables.
Law enforcement at it’s finest.
Gotta love how these people say they dont want certain offenders (sex offenders) in THEIR county but they care so much about EVERY CHILD that they literally say they hope to push them out to ANOTHER county. face palm And btw, has anyone with a prior sex offense done something that would require this change from 1000ft to 2000ft to begin with? Most likely not.
There’s a helluva lawsuit brewing in this article. Take advantage of it.
By explicitly stating that the purpose of the ordinance is to drive sex offenders out of the county, the sheriff has given a gift to any attorney who attempts to fight the ordinance. The public official who recommended the ordinance has stated, on the record, that its purpose is banishment, which is a form of punishment. Something similar got the State of Georgia into trouble several years ago when its Supreme Court declared that state’s sex offender restrictions unconstitutional.
So in other words, I am willing to risk your child’s safety by not allowing people to have productive lives, access to all things that support rehabilitation with family and community support. I would rather we put up every barrier possible to prevent a successful life of those that error-ed and hope they do so again, which may mean harming your child, that might not have been harmed otherwise had they had the resources they needed.