Sex Offenders & Registry: Attorney General McDonnell's Safe Kids Initiative
The bills comprising the “Safe Kids Initiative” passed the General Assembly with nearly unanimous support during the 2006 session, and were signed into law April 24, 2006. These laws protect Virginia’s children by instituting much harsher punishment, and electronic tracking, of those who threaten their safety and innocence.
As of July 1, 2006, Virginia has the following new laws on the books, making Attorney General McDonnell’s vision a reality:
- Jessica’s Law, pioneered by the state of Florida in response to the 2005 kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Tougher mandatory sentences, and a requirement that some registered sex offenders wear electronic tracking devices.
- Improvements and 55 statutory changes to Virginia’s Sex Offender Registry laws. A June 2005 review by the Virginia Crime Commission found numerous instances in which Registry records contained incomplete or inaccurate information. Virginia adds about 1,100 new sex offenders to the Registry each year.
- Improving the screening process for sexually violent offenders. Virginia is one of only 16 states that allows for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators. Since the passage and funding of the sexually violent predator law, Virginia has committed 28 individuals. This legislation increases the number and type of sexual offenses to be screened for possible civil commitment.
- Creating an Office of Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Services within the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services to monitor and forecast SVP populations
Thanks to the strong bi-partisan support of Attorney General McDonnell’s legislative agenda, Virginia will now be a model to the rest of the country on what can be done when office holders work together to protect children, and take sexual predators off the street. Those who harm innocent children have no place in our society, and Attorney General McDonnell’s successful legislative agenda as Attorney General makes every child in Virginia safer.
