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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A bill that would put Utah's most dangerous juvenile sex offenders on Utah's registry for adult sex offenders needs just one more endorsement before it becomes law.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bill on Monday to the full Senate for a vote. The House approved it 67-0 on Jan. 27.
It would single out juveniles convicted of serious sexual offenses who are still being held in state custody up to their 21st birthday, when they must be released regardless of whether they've been rehabilitated.
House Bill 56, would apply to only a handful of juveniles each year whose crimes would land an adult on the registry, Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-Salt Lake City, said.
The bill would target juveniles who because they resist sex offender treatment are kept in custody until they turn 21. Their names would be added to the registry 30 days before their release.
Lawrence says drawing attention to the worst juvenile offenders gives the public fair warning they could be a danger to the community.
"There's not a lot of these young men, but they are considered quite dangerous and we feel this is a good way to be able to address those concerns," Lawrence said.
Juvenile offenders would remain on the registry for the standard 10 years, unless they are convicted of a new sex offense as an adult. In that case, HB 56 mandates lifetime registration.
Utah's registry, posted on a Department of Corrections Web site, displays sexual offenders' names, addresses, crimes, vehicles and booking photographs. It also describes their "target" -- such as "female, minor" for offenders convicted of sexual abuse of a child. The site can be searched by an offender's name or by zip code.
About 60 of the 1,235 youth in Utah's juvenile justice system in 2005 were being held in secure confinement for sex offenses, said Dan Maldanado, executive director of the Division of Juvenile Justice Services. He said 300 were held in secure confinement for serious crimes, with the number of sex offenders growing.
The division expects to add two to three juvenile sex offenders a year to the sex offender registry as they turn 21, Maldanado added.
"The average age in our system is 15 and a half, so to stay in the system to age 21 means you're really dragging your feet on treatment," he said. "Given the limits of this bill, we do support it."
Maldanado said that a preliminary study shows that juvenile sex offenders who complete treatment while in custody appear to present a low risk for committing new sex offenses.
This is Lawrence's second attempt at getting juvenile sex offenders on the state registry. In 2005 the bill died in the Senate without debate on the final day of the session.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
