By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Village of Waterford officials could soon have a system in place of notifying residents when a new registered sex offender is coming into the community.
Trustee Andrew Ewert had asked for a discussion of the notification process at the Village Board’s most recent regular meeting Aug. 14.
After a brief discussion, officials decided to mine the expertise of Police Chief Matthew Johnson. He is slated to give his monthly report to the board this coming Monday, Aug. 28.
The board’s discussion of a notification system comes on the heels of last month’s decision to tweak the village’s registered sex offender ordinance.
At the urging of Village Attorney Marcy Hasenstab, officials reversed course and loosened the restrictions that had been in place, including a change in where registered sex offenders can live in the village.
Last year, the village adopted an ordinance that set the threshold around schools, daycare centers parks and other areas frequented by children at 1,500 feet. But the board in July changed it to 750 feet with the hopes of staving off any possibility of a lawsuit.
Several municipalities – including Milwaukee, Pleasant Prairie and Waukesha – have faced lawsuits with an argument communities blocking off an overwhelming majority of their boundaries are engaging in banishment, which is unconstitutional once a person has served his or her sentence.
During the recent preliminary discussion of how best to notify residents, Ewert suggested using the village’s “Notify Me” feature. Ewert said he did not think the village had to outright name the person, but direct persons interested in learning more to a link that could provide the information.
The state Department of Justice’s online registry is not always readily updated, however, which prompted another discussion of possibly having local police involved in the communication effort.
In a prelude to this coming Monday’s discussion, Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald said Johnson is checking how other municipalities handle the notification process.
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