By SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer May 1, 2007

AUGUSTA - Probation officers would be required to approve where sex offenders live if a bill sponsored by an Augusta legislator becomes law.

Rep. Patsy Crockett, D-Augusta, told members of the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Monday that those who live in Augusta are worried about the 92 registered sex offenders in their community.

"This is an issue of grave concern throughout our state, and this bill will continue to move in the right direction to help our communities," she said.

The Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal are following her bill, Legislative Document 147, from the idea stage to final status.

The measure took an important step in the process Monday when it got its public hearing.

Public hearings are designed to give everyone - legislators, lobbyists and citizens - an opportunity to tell a panel of legislators what they think of the bill.

In this instance, the 13-member criminal-justice committee heard eight bills, all relating to where sex offenders can live.

For the most part, legislators are there to listen to the public. They can ask questions of those who testify, and often pose questions that will be answered at a later work session.

The work session, which has yet to be scheduled, is where lawmakers on the committee vote on the bill.

Unless all committee members vote against the bill, it then goes forward to the House and Senate.

Crockett got the idea for her bill last fall at a meeting with parents from Lincoln School who were concerned about a sex offender living near a neighborhood park at the corner of North and Bridge streets.

LD 147 is one of four bills relating to sex offenders Crockett is attempting to move through the Legislature.

Kennebec Somerset District Attorney Evert Fowle testified in support of the bill, saying that, in 75 percent of the cases, it's already a mandatory condition of probation for a probation officer to approve where a sex offender lives.

It's the other 25 percent he's worried about.

"It's simple, straightforward, low cost or no cost," he said. "It's designed to plug a loophole that sometimes pops up."

The bill would add the approval of a residence to automatic conditions of probation for sex offenders. Right now, it's considered a special condition, which is why it isn't always included.

Fowle said busy prosecutors don't always think of it when they should.

"I've had a number of cases where probation officers came to me and said, 'Why on earth don't you have a condition on this for residence?'" he said.

The bill also got support from the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault; Augusta resident Eileen Wilkins; cosponsor Rep. Kim Silsby, D-Augusta; and Lars Olsen, director of Correctional Programs for the Maine Department of Corrections.

Those who come to public hearings can testify in one of three categories: for, against, or neither for nor against.

No one testified against Crockett's bill, and no one testified neither for nor against.

One of the difficult things to predict about a public hearing is when the committee will get to a particular bill.

The hearing started at 9:30 a.m. and the committee had eight bills to consider. It's up to the committee chairman to decide in what order to take up the bills.

In this case, five bills came before Crockett's measure.

The committee held hearings on those bills until about 12:15 p.m., took an hour for lunch, then came back to hear Crockett's bill.

Her hearing lasted 25 minutes.

Another aspect of public hearings that can't be mapped out ahead of time is who will show up to testify.

In this instance, a convicted sex offender, Peter Lehman of Thomaston, testified in support of Crockett's bill. Earlier in the day, he opposed other bills that sought to restrict where sex offenders can live, saying they were too broad.

Lehman said he was convicted in September 1998 for paying a 15-year-old for sex and for paying adolescent girls for nude pictures. He said probation officers are the best people to decide where offenders can live.

"This is the one place where people are able to make judgments about the offender and the community," he said.

Susan Cover - 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com