Kenosha’s City Council is urging the state not to move forward with regulations that could invalidate the city’s standards for placing registered sex offenders.

The council voted 17-0 Monday to support a resolution opposing Senate Bill 548 and Assembly Bill 759.

A portion of those bills would prohibit any political subdivision from enacting or enforcing an ordinance or resolution that affects the placement or residency of, or areas that may or may not be entered by, a registered sex offender.

Both bills have been introduced, and the Assembly listened to testimony on its version last week.

Kenosha’s restrictions

The city passed measures in April 2008 that prevented registered sex offenders, who were not previously residents of the city, to live within 2,500 feet of school properties, parks, trails, day cares, places of worship and places children gather. Sexual offenders who previously lived in Kenosha could not live within 500 feet of those areas.

Kenosha’s regulations also prevent convicted sex offenders from living within six blocks of each other, and registered offenders need to contact the alderman of the district they are moving into at least three days before they arrive.

Convicted sexual offenders are also not allowed to participate in holiday events with non-familial children, such as handing out candy on Halloween or dressing up as Santa Claus.

The proposed state resolution would supersede previously passed municipal resolutions regarding sex offender placement, such as Kenosha’s restrictions, and prevent any future municipal regulations on those matters.

Protecting the city’s current standards received broad support prior to Monday with eight aldermen — Anthony Nudo, Michael Orth, Kathy Carpenter, Daniel Prozanski, Jesse Downing, Dave Bogdala, Ray Misner and G. John Ruffolo — co-sponsoring the measure.

State ‘meddling’

Misner said Monday without a firm plan of how to handle placements, the state would only be “meddling” with Kenosha.

“Some of us worked really hard on passing some legislation on this not that long ago,” Misner said. “Before (the state) passes something like this, they need something that is equal or better than what we have.”

Alderman Patrick Juliana also said he felt retaining the city’s standards was necessary.

Somers, Wheatland, Paddock Lake, Silver Lake, Paris, Twin Lakes and Salem have enacted similar regulation standards.

State Department of Corrections officials have noted that Kenosha’s placement rules have led to difficulty in relocating registered sex offenders and have led to longer time sexual offenders are kept in jail due to waiting to find placement.

Corrections officials have also warned that restrictions such as Kenosha’s have not proven to increase public safety and can lead to clusters of sex offenders and fewer offenders registering with the state.