A city committee Wednesday denied a Wisconsin Department of Corrections request to allow a convicted sex offender into a new temporary placement facility in Shawano.
The sexual predator ordinance committee voted unanimously to reject the request for placement at 118 S. Union St. after coming out of a closed session discussion.
Milwaukee-based Matt Talbot Recovery Services recently contracted with the DOC to operate a six-bed temporary placement facility for recently released felons at that address, with the expectation that some of those felons would be sex offenders.
Neighborhood uproar over that prospect prompted city officials last month to add a new regulation to its code requiring DOC facilities that house sex offenders to have full-time, live-in supervision. Offenders also must wear electronic monitoring and be approved for placement by the committee.
Talbot had not planned to have live-in supervisory staff. The company’s proposal called for residents at the facility to be checked on three times a day.
Police Lt. Dan Mauel, a member of the committee, said after the meeting that the absence of live-in supervision was the reason for the denial.
DOC Supervisor Nathan Nelson criticized the city’s sex offender restrictions during the meeting.
“I would like to ask that this issue get revisited,” he said. “I feel that the ordinance as it’s currently written actually does a disservice to the community in terms of providing safety and security to the residents. A stable residence is one of the key elements needed in the rehabilitation of offenders and if we can provide that to registered sex offenders, it would help them rehabilitate and lessen the likelihood of them committing another crime in our community.”
Nelson said the city’s rules increase the likelihood of homeless sex offenders.
“We will not be able to monitor them to the degree that we could if they were allowed to live at the Union Street residence,” he said.
The DOC has been placing recently released felons at the New Era House, 105 E. Richmond St., on an as-needed basis since its contract with New Era expired last year.
Nelson said the DOC does not have the money to pay bills at two locations.
Talbot won its contract with the state with a low bid of $27.69 per bed, for an estimated annual cost of $60,641.
New Era House, which has live-in supervision, submitted a bid of $30 per bed, for an annual cost of $65,700.
Categories
