Revised Michigan Law - Registered Sexual Offenders on School Campuses
State of Michigan Updated Registered Sexual Offenders on School Campuses
Public Act 295 of 2020, effective March 24, 2021, amends parts of the Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA). Most significantly for schools, the amendments eliminate the “student safety zone,” which was defined as “the area that lies 1,000 feet or less from school property.” Before the amendments, SORA prohibited registered sex offenders from living, working, or loitering in that zone.
The amendments were enacted to align with a series of court rulings from Doe v Snyder. In 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found that the student safety zone provisions were unconstitutionally vague. SORA, the district court reasoned, did not sufficiently define whether the 1,000-foot exclusion zone was measured between property lines or as people actually travel. Without precise boundary lines, registrants were faced with unknowingly violating SORA or unnecessarily restricting where they lived, worked, and loitered.
The district court also declared unconstitutionally vague the definition of “loiter,” which was “to remain for a period of time and under circumstances that a reasonable person would determine is for the primary purpose of observing or contacting minors.” The district court took issue with the meaning of a registrant’s “primary purpose,” particularly for school movie nights and parent-teacher conferences.
Despite the student safety zone’s abolishment, the Revised School Code still prohibits schools from employing or hiring individuals who have been convicted of a listed sex offense. In addition, school officials may still implement reasonable rules and regulations to safeguard students, staff, and third parties while on school property. But, a policy that simply references or restates SORA’s previous definitions of “student safety zone” and “loiter” may be similarly challenged as unconstitutionally vague. Board policies that reference or restate those SORA definitions require revision.
From AAPS In regards to this change:
When any visitor comes to an AAPS school, they will follow district protocol and present their license or identification to be run through the Raptor Visitor Management System. If the visitor is “flagged” as being a convicted sexual offender, the school will allow the parent inside for appropriate school business but the visitor will be accompanied by a school staff member while they are visiting the school. The visitor will never be left alone in the school. One exception is if the check comes up that the visitor is not allowed to be on school property based on a probation order.
The updated State of Michigan law does state that a convicted sex offender cannot loiter with the intent to observe or contact minors or use their status as a parent/guardian to gain access to children beyond their own child.
We appreciate that visitors to AAPS follow the visitor management protocol while AAPS will follow the revised state law.