Published: March 8, 2016
Kewaskum tightening up on sex offenders
Based on similar ordinances
Daily News
KEWASKUM — Village Board President Kevin Scheunemann wanted to test the boundaries for a potential sex offender ordinance.
At Monday’s board meeting, the Board said it believes it has found a limit that is safe from legal challenges.
Police Chief Tom Bishop drafted an ordinance proposal where
registered sex offenders can’t be within 750 feet of any facility where a
child may go. Among the examples are public parks, swimming pools,
libraries, recreational trails, schools, athletic fields, daycares,
specialized schools such as a gymnastics academy and children’s clubs
as Boy Scout and Girl Scout houses.
“It’s a very good ordinance,” said Richard Knoebel, a board member
who sat in as president for the meeting because Scheunemann had an
excused absence.
“I’m in favor of it,” Knoebel added of the ordinance.
There is no sex offender residency restriction in Kewaskum.
At the Jan. 11 meeting, Scheunemann requested a review of potential
ordinances because he believed Kewaskum was getting sex offenders
“dumped” into the village.
“What’s the maximum restriction?” Scheunemann asked at that meeting. He
later added that he wanted to see if the limit that could be imposed be
1,500 feet.
Bishop
said there are five sex offenders registered living in the village. If
the ordinance of 750 feet passes, which Knoebel believes it will within
the next month, an offender will not be forced to move, essentially
being grandfathered-in.
About 10 years ago, the village considered an ordinance concerning sex
offenders, but no action was taken because of the belief it would be a
disincentive to have offenders register.
Bishop said Newburg and Richfield have a similar ordinance in place.
Waukesha and Franklin have adopted similar ordinances that have held
up in court. Bishop believes this ordinance — if it were ever to be
challenged in court — would hold.
“I was a police chief here for 24 years,” Knoebel said. “We were going
to do it and then we found out about all the litigation.
“Now several of these cases have been litigated, so now it’s off the
table. You’ve got a better chance of keeping your ordinance up.”
One of the clauses in the ordinance says if the offender was a
village resident at the time of the offense, he or she would be allowed
to remain in the village as long as he or she
isn’t in violation of the ordinance. If an offender isn’t a village
resident at the time of the offense, he or she would not be allowed to
move into the village.
Renters would also be held responsible if an offender rents a place of residence and is in violation of the ordinance.
“We’re pretty sure it’s a safe ordinance,” Knoebel said.
As to why local governments around the state are adopting sex
offender ordinances, Knoebel said it’s because, “You didn’t know as
much about sex offenders back then because they weren’t registered like
they are now.
“A lot of times, it was just kept quiet.”
That’s not the case anymore and the local governments are catching up.
“It makes everybody feel a lot safer,” Knoebel said. Intersection construction planned
Construction will start soon at the intersection of Highway 45 and
Highway H/Badger Road as the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
installs traffic lights and adds extra street lights.
“We’ve had accidents down there,” Knoebel said.
Construction is expected to take about three months.
Pool committee to meet tonight A Kiwanis Pool Committee meeting is at 7 p.m. today at the Municipal Building, 204 First St.
Among the agenda items are a project plan schedule and the development of a feasibility study for the Kiwanis Park pool.
“What they’re looking at is what we can do to make more usage of the pool,” Knoebel said.
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