Chapter 594-1 SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION REVIEW BOARD
Board Membership: The Sexual Offender Registration Review Board
shall be composed of three (3) professionals licensed under Title 43 and
knowledgeable in the field of the behavior and treatment of sexual offenders;
at least one representative from a victim's rights advocacy group or agency;
and at least two representatives from law enforcement, each of whom is either
employed by a law enforcement agency as a certified peace officer under Title
35 or retired from such employment.
The members of the Board shall serve without compensation, but
shall be entitled to an expense allowance and travel cost reimbursement same as
members of certain other Boards and commissions as provided in Code Section
45-7-21.
The Sexual Offender Registration Review Board is assigned to
the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for
administrative purposes, and, provided there is adequate funding shall:
| (a) |
Exercise its quasi-judicial, rule-making
or policy making functions independent of the Department of Behavioral Health
and Developmental Disabilities and without approval or control of the
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. |
| (b) |
Prepare its budget, if any and submit its
budgetary requests, if any, through the Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Disabilities; and |
| (c) |
Hire its own personnel, including but not limited to administrative personnel
and clinical evaluators. |
| (d) |
Members of the board shall be immune from liability for good faith conduct
under this article. |
The Board shall determine the likelihood that a sexual offender
will engage in another crime against a victim who is a minor or a dangerous
sexual offense. The board shall make such determination for any sexual offender
convicted on or after July 1, 2006, of a criminal offense against a victim who
is a minor or a dangerous sexual offense and for any sexual offender
incarcerated on July 1, 2006, but convicted prior to July 1, 2006, of a
criminal offense against a victim who is a minor. Any sexual offender who
changes residence from another state or territory of the United States or any
other place to this state and who is not already designated under Georgia law
as a sexually dangerous predator, or sexually violent predator shall have his
or her required registration information forwarded by the sheriff of his or her
county of registration to the board for the purpose of risk assessment
classification. The board shall also make such determination upon the request
of a superior court judge for purposes of considering a petition to be released
from registration restrictions or residency or employment restrictions as
provided for in Code Section
42-1-19.
| (a) |
A sexual offender shall be placed into
Level I risk assessment classification, Level II risk assessment
classification, or sexually dangerous predator classification based upon the
board's assessment criteria and information obtained and reviewed by the board.
The sexual offender may provide the board with information, including, but not
limited to, psychological evaluations, sexual history polygraph information,
treatment history, and personal, social, educational, and work history, and may
agree to submit to a psychosexual evaluation or sexual history polygraph
conducted by the board. If the sexual offender has undergone treatment or
supervision through the Department of Corrections or the Department of
Community Supervision, such treatment records shall also be submitted to the
board for evaluation. The prosecuting attorney shall provide the board with any
information available to assist the board in rendering an opinion, including,
but not limited to, criminal history and records related to previous criminal
history. The board shall utilize the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to assist
it in obtaining information relative to its evaluation of sexual offenders and
the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shall provide the board with information as
requested by the board. The board shall be authorized to obtain information
from supervision records of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles regarding
such sexual offender, but such records shall remain confidential state secrets
in accordance with Code Section
42-9-53 and shall not be made
available to any other person or entity or be subject to subpoena unless
declassified by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. The clerk of court
shall send a copy of the sexual offender's conviction to the board and notify
the board that a sexual offender's evaluation will need to be performed. The
board shall render its recommendation for risk assessment classification
within:
| (1) |
Sixty days of receipt of a request
for an evaluation if the sexual offender is being sentenced pursuant to
subsection (c) of Code Section
17-10-6.2; |
| (2) |
Six months prior to the sexual offender's
proposed release from confinement if the offender is incarcerated; |
| (3) |
Sixty days of receipt of the required
registration information from the sheriff when the sexual offender changes
residence from another state or territory of the United States or any other
place to this state and is not already classified; |
| (4) |
Sixty days if the sexual offender is
sentenced to a probated or suspended sentence; and |
| (5) |
Ninety days if such classification is
requested by the court pursuant to a petition filed under Code Section
42-1-19. |
|
| (b) |
The board shall notify the sexual
offender by first-class mail of its determination of risk assessment
classification and shall send a copy of such classification to the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Corrections, the Department of
Community Supervision, the sheriff of the county where the sexual offender is
registered, and the sentencing court, if applicable. |
| (c) |
If the board determines that a sexual
offender should be classified as a Level II risk assessment classification or
as a sexually dangerous predator, the sexual offender may petition the board to
reevaluate his or her classification. To file a petition for reevaluation, the
sexual offender shall be required to submit his or her written petition for
reevaluation to the board within 30 days from the date of the letter notifying
the sexual offender of his or her classification. The sexual offender shall
have 60 days from the date of the notification letter to submit information as
provided in subsection (a) of this Code section in support of the sexual
offender's petition for reevaluation. If the sexual offender fails to submit
the petition or supporting documents within the time limits provided, the
classification shall be final. The board shall notify the sexual offender by
first-class mail of its decision on the petition for reevaluation of risk
assessment classification and shall send a copy of such notification to the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Corrections, the Department
of Community Supervision, the sheriff of the county here the sexual offender is
registered, and the sentencing court, if applicable. |
| (d) |
A sexual offender who is classified by
the board as a Level II risk assessment classification or as a sexually
dangerous predator may file a petition for judicial review of his or her
classification within 30 days of the date of the notification letter or, if the
sexual offender has requested reevaluation pursuant to subsection (b) of this
Code section, within 30 days of the date of the letter denying the petition for
reevaluation. The petition for judicial review shall name the board as
defendant, and the petition shall be filed in the superior court of the county
where the offices of the board are located. Within 30 days after service of the
appeal on the board, the board shall submit a summary of its findings to the
court and mail a copy, by first-class mail, to the sexual offender. The
findings of the board shall be considered prima-facie evidence of the
classification. The court shall also consider any relevant evidence submitted,
and such evidence and documentation shall be mailed to the parties as well as
submitted to the court. The court may hold a hearing to determine the issue of
classification. The court may uphold the classification of the board, or, if
the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the sexual offender is
not placed in the appropriate classification level, the court shall place the
sexual offender in the appropriate risk assessment classification. The court's
determination shall be forwarded by the clerk of the court to the board, the
sexual offender, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the sheriff of the
county where the sexual offender is registered. |
| (e) |
Any individual who was classified as a
sexually violent predator prior to July 1, 2006, shall be classified as a
sexually dangerous predator on and after July 1, 2006. |
| (f) |
Any sexually dangerous predator shall be
required to wear an electronic monitoring system that shall have, at a minimum:
| (1) |
The capacity to locate and record the
location of a sexually dangerous predator by a link to a global positioning
satellite system; |
| (2) |
The capacity
to timely report or record a sexually dangerous predator's presence near or
within a crime scene or in a prohibited area or the sexually dangerous
predator's departure from specific geographic locations; and |
| (3) |
An alarm that is automatically activated
and broadcasts the sexually dangerous predator's location if the global
positioning satellite monitor is removed or tampered with by anyone other than
a law enforcement official designated to maintain and remove or replace the
equipment.
Such electronic monitoring system shall be worn by a sexually
dangerous predator for the remainder of his or her natural life. The sexually
dangerous predator shall pay the cost of such system to the Department of
Community Supervision if the sexually dangerous predator is under probation or
parole supervision and to the sheriff after the sexually dangerous predator
completes his or her term of probation and parole or if the sexually dangerous
predator has moved to this state from another state, territory, or country. The
electronic monitoring system shall be placed upon the sexually dangerous
predator prior to his or her release from confinement. If the sexual offender
is not in custody, within 72 hours of the decision classifying the sexual
offender as a sexually dangerous predator in accordance with subsection (b) of
this Code section, the sexually dangerous predator shall report to the sheriff
of the county of his or her residence for purposes of having the electronic
monitoring system placed on the sexually dangerous predator.
|
|
| (g) |
In addition to the
requirements of registration for all sexual offenders, a sexually dangerous
predator shall report to the sheriff of the county where such predator resides
six months following his or her birth month and update or verify his or her
required registration information. |
At any such time that the statutes are amended, these rules
will automatically be amended to reflect such changes.
