Hudson City Council taking a new look at restricting where sex offenders can live

Talk about it

The Hudson City Council on Monday night authorized a new effort to restrict where people who have committed serious sexual crimes can live within the city.

A study committee including a circuit court judge, a Wisconsin Department of Corrections official, Police Chief Marty Jensen and members of the council’s Public Safety Committee will give advice on a proposed ordinance.

The council rejected a sexual offender ordinance proposed by Alderperson Randy Morrissette II a couple of years ago. A majority of council members at the time were concerned that the ordinance might entangle the city in an expensive lawsuit.

Since then, the city received notice of a Level 3 sexual offender coming to Hudson. The offender decided not to locate here, however, after the public was informed of his move.

Mayor Dean Knudson said an ordinance limiting where sexual offenders can live can be crafted to stand up in court. The key, he said, is not to overreach by drafting a law that bars offenders from residing virtually anywhere in the city.

Knudson played a big role in drafting an ordinance some years ago that kept a strip club out of downtown Hudson. That ordinance is now a model for other communities in the state, he said.

Alderperson Scot O’Malley, an opponent of the first proposed sexual offender ordinance, is still skeptical about the need for such an ordinance.

“It’s a solution in search of a problem,” he said.

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