§ 11-37.1-6 - Community notification.
SECTION 11-37.1-6
§ 11-37.1-6 Community notification. –(1) Sex Offender Board of Review. The governor shall appoint eight (8)persons including experts in the field of the behavior and treatment of sexualoffenders by reason of training and experience, victim's rights advocates, andlaw enforcement representatives to the sex offender board of review. At leastone member of the sex offender board of review shall be a qualifiedchild/adolescent sex offender treatment specialist. These persons shall serveat the pleasure of the governor or until their successor has been dulyqualified and appointed.
(b) Duties of the Board. Upon passage of thislegislation, the sex offender board of review will utilize a validated riskassessment instrument and other material approved by the parole board todetermine the level of risk an offender poses to the community and to assistthe sentencing court in determining if that person is a sexually violentpredator. If the offender is a juvenile, the Department of Children, Youth &Families shall select and administer a risk instrument appropriate forjuveniles and shall submit the results to the sex offender board of review.
(c) Duties of other state agencies. Six (6) monthsprior to release of any person having a duty to register under §11-37.1-3, or upon sentencing of a person having a duty to register under§ 11-37.1-3, if the offender is not incarcerated, the agency havingsupervisory responsibility and the Interstate Compact Unit of the Rhode Islanddepartment of corrections upon acceptance of supervision of a sexual offenderfrom the sending state shall refer the person to the sex offender board ofreview, together with any reports and documentation that may be helpful to theboard, for a determination as to the level of risk an offender poses to thecommunity and to assist the sentencing court in determining if that person is asexually violent predator.
(2) The board shall within thirty (30) days of a referral ofa person shall conduct the validated risk assessment, review other materialprovided by the agency having supervisory responsibility and assign a risk ofre-offense level to the offender. In addition, the board may find that, basedon the assessment score and other material, that the person may possess amental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely toengage in sexually violent predatory offenses. In these cases, the committeeshall ask the parole board psychiatrist or if the offender is a juvenile, aDCYF psychiatrist to conduct a sex offender evaluation to determine if theoffender possesses a mental abnormality or personality disorder that affectsthe emotional or volitional capacity of the person in a manner that predisposesthat person to the commission of criminal sexual acts to a degree that makesthe person a menace to the health and safety of other persons.
(ii) Upon receipt of a sex offender evaluation that suggeststhere is sufficient evidence and documentation to suggest that a person may bea sexually violent predator, the sex offender board of review shall forward areport to the attorney general for consideration by the court.
(iii) Upon receipt of a report from the attorney general, thecourt, after notice to the offender and his or her counsel, shall uponconsideration of the report and other materials, make a determination as towhether or not a person is a sexually violent predator.
(iv) Effect of determination. In the event that adetermination is made by the court that a person is a sexually violentpredator, that person shall be required to register and verify his or heraddress in accordance with §§ 11-37.1-3, 11-37.1-4 and 11-37.1-8(b).
(3) No cause of action or liability shall arise or existagainst the committee or any member or agent of the board as a result of thefailure of the board to make any findings required by this section within thetime period specified by subdivision (2) of this subsection.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the boardshall have access to all relevant records and information in the possession ofany state official or agency having a duty under §§ 11-37.1-5(a)(1)through (6), relating to the juvenile and adult offenders under review by theboard, including, but not limited to, police reports; prosecutor's statementsof probable cause, presentence investigations and reports, complete judgmentsand sentences, current classification referrals, juvenile and adult criminalhistory records, violation and disciplinary reports, all psychologicalevaluations and psychiatric evaluations, psychiatric hospital records, sexoffender evaluations and treatment reports, substance abuse evaluations andtreatment reports to the extent allowed by federal law. Records and informationobtained by the board of review under this subsection shall remainconfidential, provided that the board of review may disclose the records andinformation to the sentencing court in accordance with the provisions of thischapter.
(5) Duties of the director of the department ofcorrections/director of the department of children, youth and families. Notless than sixty (60) days prior to release of any person subject to thischapter, the director of the department of corrections or, in the event theperson is a juvenile, the director of the department of children, youth andfamilies, or their respective designees, shall seek verification that theduties of the sex offender board of review and any other state agency have beenfulfilled as specified in § 11-37.1-6 et seq. In the event that thedirector of the department of corrections or, in the event the person is ajuvenile, the director of the department of children, youth and families,cannot obtain verification, he or she shall, no less than thirty (30) daysprior to the release of a person subject to this chapter, file with thepresiding judge of the superior court or, in the case of a juvenile, the chiefjudge of the family court, a petition in the nature of mandamus, seekingcompliance with this chapter. The court shall promptly, but no less than ten(10) days from the filing of the petition, hold a hearing on the petition. Thecourt may, in its discretion, enter any orders consistent with this chapter tocompel compliance, however, the court may not delay the release of any personsubject to this chapter for the failure of the sex offender board of review orany state agency to fulfill its obligations under this chapter.