Housing limits for sex offenders in Fresno County unconstitutional, lawsuit says
An advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against Fresno County claiming a new law that imposes limits to housing for registered sex offenders is superseded by existing state laws.
The nonprofit Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws Inc. filed the lawsuit on behalf of three unnamed registered sex offenders on Jan. 26. The complaint names the county and Sheriff John Zanoni as defendants.
“The county has not yet been served, but firmly believes the ordinance protects residents and is legally defensible,” Fresno County spokesperson Sonja Dosti said Wednesday in a written statement.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 6 unanimously passed a new ordinance to limit any halfway houses that have a registered sex offender to no more than six beds. If even one of the residents is a registered sex offender, the six-bed limit applies and includes staffers who live on site, the Fresno County law says.
The lawsuit says the law is pre-empted by state law, Draconian in its punishments and treats registrants who are not on parole the same as those on parole.
The lawsuit says the Fresno County law is unconstitutional for a number of reasons, including that the housing restrictions would be applied to registrants who are not on parole. The county’s fines starting at $1,000 and up to $50,000 would force the homeowners to face ruin or push registrants into homelessness, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also argues that halfway houses for sex offenders make supervision by law enforcement more effective, citing case law.
Fresno County officials pointed to calls for service and a handful of incidents at local halfway houses as examples of why they needed a six-bed cap.
“It’s too bad this advocacy group isn’t more concerned with the rights of the innocent victims of these sex offenders rather the perpetrators of these crimes,” Supervisor Garry Bredefeld wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “We will always ensure the safety and security of our residents, their children and their families, regardless of threats, lawsuits or anything else.”
When introducing the law, Fresno County officials pointed to a couple of homes in the Fig Garden area and others in unincorporated parts of the county. Staffers at the home estimated about three dozen residents would be forced to become homeless under the new law, which goes into effect on Friday.
The lawsuit’s first hearing in Fresno County Superior Court is set for July 1.
