State attorneys at odds with Legislature, Sheriffs over bus stops

ATLANTA , GEORGIA – Last week, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper conducted hearings on a motion for a Preliminary Injunction challenging HB 1059, the Georgia sex offender legislation passed in 2006 by the General Assembly.  At the hearing, law enforcement and experts (including defendants’ own expert) testified that the residency restrictions in HB1059, if permitted to go into effect, would likely drive thousands of people from their homes and thus compromise public safety.  Experts for both sides testified that housing and employment stability are important factors in reducing recidivism.  The disruptions in housing, jobs, treatment, and family support that would be caused by HB 1059’s residency restrictions will seriously compromise this stability.

In a surprising retreat from common sense and in contradiction to their clients’ own understanding of the law, attorneys for the Defendants tried to argue that a school bus stop must be formally “designated” by a local school board by resolution or proclamation to make it a bus stop under the law.  Judge Cooper asked lawyers for both sides to file additional briefs by Monday addressing the issue.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys have filed a brief addressing these issues.  The brief can be viewed here.

The position espoused by defendants’ attorneys place them at odds with sheriffs across Georgia, who have been notifying sex offenders they face arrest if they live with 1,000 feet of any place a bus normally stops to pick up children.  Hundreds of law enforcement officials across Georgia understood this plain meaning.  Even while recognizing that forcefully evicting people on the registry would not be good for public safety, nearly all 159 sheriffs’ offices in Georgia were within 48 hours of reluctantly doing just that, as was their duty under this clear statutory mandate.  All ten law enforcement officers who testified at the hearing -- from Forsyth, Cobb, Bibb, Dekalb, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Houston, Newton, Rockdale, and Fulton Counties – understood that “school bus stops” referred to all school bus stops and were prepared to enforce HB 1059 accordingly.

Defendants’ attorneys are now also at odds with Rep. Jerry Keen, the Glynn County Republican who was the primary sponsor of the legislation. The day after the Preliminary Injunction Hearing, Representative Keen told the Fulton County Daily Report that the intent of HB 1059 was to prohibit sex offenders from living near any school bus stop:

“Designated means the appointed areas that a school bus driver is given that they are to go and pick children up,” he said. “They are given some type of route. That is what we meant.”

“Every school system has a published route and public stops, and that’s what you have to work with,” Keen said.

Attorneys for the Attorney General and Governor implied at the hearing that Sheriffs across Georgia were not smart enough to read and understand the statute. For that, they owe law enforcement an apology.

The original complaint can be viewed here.