You asked for a summary of HB 5723, An Act Concerning a Sexual Offender Risk Assessment Board.

SUMMARY

The bill establishes a six-person Sexual Offender Risk Assessment Board. The board must order clinical assessments of the likelihood that a person in a state agency's custody, or receiving services under a contract it administers, will engage in "sexual offending conduct" if the agency requests this. It must also investigate reports it receives from any source that such a person poses a risk of engaging in this conduct.

The bill also changes the sexual offender registration requirements for people who committed offenses in other states.

If passed, it would take effect October 1, 2002.

SEXUAL OFFENDER RISK ASSESSMENT BOARD

The governor appoints board members to four-year terms with the advice and consent of either the House or Senate. He can remove them during their terms for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

The board is placed in the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) for administrative purposes only. Members who are not full-time state employees are paid $ 100 for each day that they perform official duties and are reimbursed reasonable and necessary travel and other costs.

The bill supercedes other record and information confidentiality laws, allowing the board (but apparently not the physicians it appoints to conduct the assessments) to look at and copy any court and state agency records it needs to carry out its responsibilities.

REFERRALS

Any state agency that is determining the appropriate placement or level of supervision of any person (1) in its custody or (2) receiving services from a provider it contracts with can refer the person to the board for an examination and assessment of the person's risk of engaging in "sexual offending behavior. " (The bill does not define this term. )

REPORTS

The board must also investigate reports it receives from anyone who believes that a person in state custody or receiving services under a state agency contract poses a risk of engaging in sexual offending behavior because of the person's placement or supervision level. The board must not disclose the identity of the person who reported the situation, but it may ask the state agency to refer the subject of the report to the board for a risk assessment.

EXAMINATIONS AND CLINICAL ASSESSMENTS

The bill requires the board to order examinations and clinical assessments of each person a state agency refers to it. It must appoint at least two impartial physicians from a list (panel) of physicians and psychiatrists DMHAS supplies. One of the examiners must be a psychiatrist.

The board must give each examiner a separate form to fill out. The form must include questions about:

1. the specific psychiatric disabilities alleged,

2. whether the person is dangerous to himself or others,

3. whether he poses a risk of engaging in sexually offending behavior and the level of such risk, and

4. recommendations about the appropriate placement and level of supervision of the person.

The bill directs examiners to answer the questions as fully and completely as is reasonably possible. They must include on the form the reasons for their opinions.

THE BOARD'S REPORTS

The board must give the referring agency a written report within 60 days of the assessment's completion. This report must include:

1. a description of the nature of the assessment,

2. any mental disorder as recognized by the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (currently, this is the DSM-IV),

3. an assessment of the risk that the person will engage in sexual offending behavior, and

4. an opinion regarding the appropriate placement and level of supervision for the examined person.

CHANGES TO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY

Currently, people moving into Connecticut who have been convicted in other jurisdictions of offenses similar to those requiring registration in Connecticut (or acquitted of such crimes because of insanity) must register with the public safety commissioner within 10 days of the relocation. They must comply with registration requirements for the same length of time as people tried for the same offense in Connecticut (CGS § 54-253(a)). Under the bill, only people required to register in the jurisdiction where they were convicted would be required to register here. And the duration of registration would be controlled by the convicting jurisdiction's registration rules.

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