2011-99U Regulate Sex Offenders ORDINANCE NO. 2011-99U
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MENIFEE
ADDING MENIFEE MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 11.26
REGULATING THE RESIDENCE AND LOCATION OF SEX OFFENDERS
The City Council of the City of Menifee does ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. INTENT.
(A) Studies show that convicted sex offenders pose a clear threat to children and other
residents of the City. Convicted sex offenders are likely to re-offend, and for this reason, the City
Council seeks to impose safety precautions in furtherance of the goal of protecting children and all
residents of Menifee.
(B) Penal Code Section 3003.5 (b) provides that it is unlawful for any 290 registrant o
reside within 2000 feet of any public or private school or park where children regularly gather;
and
(C) The City also wishes to impose additional restrictions to be known as "child safety
zones." The child safety zone constitutes the surrounding 500 feet of a designated place where
children normally congregate, within which a convicted sex offender is prohibited from being
present.
(D) Surrounding cities as well as the County have enacted similar provisions; and
(E) This ordinance must become effective immediately to protect health, safety and
welfare of the residents of the City because on October 1,2011,the County of Riverside will release
a number of parolees into Southwest Riverside County. The parolees will include non-violent, non-
serious and non-sex offenders; and
(F) Specified lower level inmates will be transferred from the Department of Corrections
to Riverside County. The inmates will include non-violent, non-serious, non-high risk sex offenders,
and which may include 290 registrants.
SECTION 2. Chapter 11.26 is added to the Menifee Municipal Code to read as follows:
Section
11.26.010 Definitions
11.26.020 Intentionally Omitted
11.26.030 Child Safety Zones
11.26.040 Safety Zone Exceptions
11.26.050 Violations and Penalties
Section 11.26.010. DEFINITIONS.As used in this ordinance, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
(a) Child_ Children, or Minor. Any person or persons under the age of eighteen years of
age.
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(b) Child Care Facility. Any facility that provides non-medical care to children in need of
personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of
daily living for the protection of the individual on less than a twenty-four hour basis.
Child day care facilities include infant centers, preschools, and employer-sponsored
child care centers.
(c) Long-term care facility. Retains the same meaning as in California Welfare and
Institutions Code Section 9701.
(d) Permanent residence. A place where a person abides, lodges, or resides for
fourteen or more consecutive days.
(e) Protected Locations. Locations primarily dedicated to providing programs for children.
Protected Locations include, but are not limited to, public or private schools for
Children, Child Care Facilities, video arcades utilized by Children, Child-themed
commercial establishments, parks, recreation facilities, amusement centers,
swimming pools, sports/athletic fields, and school bus stops.
(f) Sex Offender. An individual who is currently required by law to register with a
governmental entity as a Sex Offender under California Penal Code Section 290.
(g) Temporary residence.A place where a person abides, lodges,or resides for a period
of fourteen or more days in the aggregate during any twelve-month period and which
is not the person's permanent residence, or a place where a person abides, lodges,
or resides for a period of four or more consecutive or nonconsecutive days in any
thirty-day period and which is not the person's permanent residence.
Section 11.26.020. Intentionally Omitted
Section 11.26.030. CHILD SAFETY ZONES.
(a) It shall be unlawful for a Sex Offender to be present within five hundred(500)feet of
any of the Protected Locations.
(b) The city shall make a list of the Protected Locations available to the public,and upon
request, will furnish a map illustrating the Protected Locations, and those locations
that fall within 500 feet of a protected location.The list and map shall be updated on
an annual basis, but may be updated more frequently should new Protected
Locations be established or where uses in existing Protected Locations have
changed. Distance from Protected Locations shall be measured from the outer
boundaries of the properties on which the facilities described in this subsection are
situated.Any parcels that are partially included within a protected area, as shown on
the map, shall be considered to be wholly included within the protected area.
(c) For purposes of this chapter, the distance of five hundred feet shall be measured in
a straight line from the location of the Sex Offenderto the closest property line of any
protected location.
Section 11.26.040. SAFETY ZONE EXCEPTIONS. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Sex
Offenderwill not be in violation of 11.26.020 if his or her presence in a child safety zone results from
any of the following:
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(a) A Sex Offender's place of residence that is lawful according to section 3003.5
of the California Penal Code but in violation of the 11.26.030;
(1) Single trips by the Sex Offender to and from a destination that
necessarily traverses a Protected Location;
(2) Single trips by the Sex Offender to or from a Protected Location, in
order to accompany a child or ward of which the Sex Offender is a parent or
guardian;
(3) Presence in public parks for the purpose of exercising the
constitutional rights of free expression and assembly;
(4) Travel to or from or attendance at religious services; and
(5) Lawful employment at a location located within five hundred feet of
the Protected Location.
Section 11.26.050. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. Any person who violates this chapter is
guilty of a misdemeanor. Each offense shall be punished by a fine not less than twenty-five dollars
or more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding
six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.A person is guilty of a separate offense for each
and every day during which a violation occurs.
SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable, the
remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances
shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance is an urgency ordinance necessary for
the immediate protection of public health and safety because of the release of parolees into the City
and the transfer of inmates from the State to the County and shall take effect immediately upon its
adoption.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 61h day of September, 2011.
Wallace Edgerton, Wyor
ATTEST: Approved as to form:
KATHY BENNETT, City Clerk Karen Feld, City Attorney
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Wallace W. Edgerton
Mayor STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss
John V.Denver CITY OF MENIFEE )
Mayor Pro Tem
Darcy Kuenzi 1, Kathy Bennett, City Clerk of the City of Menifee, do hereby certify that the
Councilmember foregoing Ordinance No. 2011-99U was duly adopted by the City Council of the
City of Menifee at a meeting thereof held on the 61h day of September, 2011 by
Thomas Fuhrman the following vote:
Councilmember
Sue Kristjansson Ayes: Denver, Edgerton, Fuhrman, Kristjansson, Kuenzi,
Councilmember Noes: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
Kalfiy Bennett, City Clerk
29714 Haun Road
Menifee,CA 92586
Phone 951.672.6777
Fax 951.679.3843
www.c1tyofnnen1fee.us