SB 55

Abstract

Sex offenders in emergency shelters; notification;penalty. Provides that a registered sex offender who enters anemergency shelter designated by the Commonwealth or any politicalsubdivision thereof and operated in response to a declared stateor local emergency shall, as soon as practicable after entry, notifya member of the shelter's staff who is responsible for providingsecurity of such person's status as a registered sex offender. Thebill provides that any person who fails to notify the shelter's staffof his status as a registered sex offender is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. This bill provides that no person shall be denied entrysolely on the basis of his status as a sex offender unless such entryis otherwise prohibited by law, but emergency shelter staff may denyentry of a person on such registry who has been convicted of a sexuallyviolent offense for a period of time necessary to ensure the safetyof other individuals admitted to the emergency shelter.