You asked if any town in Windham or Tolland County has proposed or adopted an ordinance to restrict where sex offenders can live.

SUMMARY

No town in either of these counties has adopted such an ordinance and only one, Stafford, has proposed one. Danbury is the only city in Connecticut known to have an ordinance restricting sex offenders' residency.

Two towns located outside of Tolland and Windham counties have at least considered residency restrictions. New London decided not to pursue adopting an ordinance based on perceived enforcement difficulties. According to a June 10, 2007 Hartford Courant article, Bridgeport is amending a proposal that would restrict sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of schools and child care centers and prohibit them from parks unless accompanying their own children. The common council is expected to act on the proposal in July.

STAFFORD PROPOSAL

First Selectman Allen Bacchiochi proposed Stafford's ordinance and the selectmen passed it, but Bacchiochi has not submitted it for a vote at a town meeting. The proposal is based on Danbury's ordinance. Bacchiochi has asked legal council to review the proposed ordinance's constitutionality and enforceability. Ideally, he would like to limit the ordinance's application to pedophiles. There is no date set for a town meeting vote.

DANBURY'S ORDINANCE

The ordinance prohibits child sex offenders who are required to register in this state from being present in any child safety zone. A “child safety zone” is a public park, playground, recreation center, bathing beach, swimming or wading pool, or sports field or facility and surrounding land.

The prohibition does not apply to any person:

1. whose name has been removed from the Department of Public Safety's Sex Offender Registry or from the registry in another state or in the federal or military system by court order or expiration of the registration term or

2. entering into a polling place in a child safety zone to vote if he leaves immediately after voting.

If a police officer reasonably believes a child sex offender is in a child safety zone in violation of the ordinance, the office must ask him to provide his name, address, and telephone number. If the officer's belief is confirmed, he or she must issue the offender a written warning and require him to leave the area. An offender who refuses to leave and subsequent offenders are subject to a $ 100 fine for each violation. The fine does not apply if the offender's conduct results in his conviction for a new criminal offense or if his parole or probation is revoked because of it (Danbury City Ord. § 12-27).

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