St. Cloud looks to keep predatory sex offenders away from schools

ST. CLOUD — Predatory sex offenders could face new obstacles when finding housing in St. Cloud. On Monday, city council decided to move forward with exploring a predatory offender residency ordinance. 

Councilmember Karen Larson is hoping to reduce the number of offenders living near schools and wants to set distance restrictions to keep them away. City council has yet to decide on a distance requirement, both 1,500 and 1,000 feet were brought up. 

“This proposal is in no way an attempt to stigmatize or stereotype offenders,” Larson said. “Rehabilitation should be celebrated. However, it’s the case that if I were to use a gun or a car to harm someone else, part of my social rehabilitation would be to understand and accept future reasonable restrictions on my conduct.”

The state does not have sex offender residency restrictions, according to a Department of Corrections study, leaving establishing limitations to each municipality.

Larson said four things need to be considered when drafting the ordinance. These considerations include grandfathering in current residents to stay in their homes, only impact those with victims under 16 years old, include language addressing repeat offenders and avoid putting an undue burden on offenders finding housing. 

Councilmember Carol Lewis suggested raising Larson’s victim age of 16 to 18, which is another point to be finalized. Councilmember Mike Conway also expressed worries about such restrictions, forcing offenders to live in certain areas. Larson said creating neighborhoods with a high concentration of offenders is unlikely because St. Cloud is looking to restrict the distance from schools rather than other municipalities.

“While I know we are trying hard not to limit the offender's place, I could see a cluster effect being imposed,” Conway said.

St. Cloud is using Golden Valley’s ordinance as a model, which puts the police department in charge of regulating the ordinance. Golden Valley’s ordinance states violators will be charged with and subject to misdemeanor penalties. Only level three offenders are subject to the Golden Valley ordinance. Level three offenders are at a higher risk of re-offense.

Exceptions to the Golden Valley ordinance include offenders under 18 years old residing with a parent or guardian, those living by facilities that open after the offender moved into their residence and those who already lived at their homes when committing the crime. 

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.