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City to assess sex offender requirements for proposed shelter

Norman Transcript - 3/5/2022

Mar. 5—City officials have been asked to assess whether Norman's proposed location for a homeless shelter meets state and federal requirements for sex offender lodging.

The majority of Norman city councilors have asked city staff to pursue a permanent homeless shelter at a currently empty building at 900 E. Main St. owned by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The move would put the facility near service providers Food and Shelter Inc. and Griffin Memorial Hospital — facilities that already provide services to unhoused people in the city — and near Le Monde International School.

The current shelter is at 325 E. Comanche St. in downtown Norman.

The requested assessment follows meetings Ward 5 Rarchar Tortorello had with Le Monde school officials over concerns about the proximity of the shelter to the school, specifically in reference to sex offenders in the area, said City Manager Darrel Pyle.

Tortorello said Tuesday that school officials and the state Department of Education told him that the shelter location could jeopardize the school's charter, which could cause it to close.

"We are doing an extensive homework assignment in touch with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and going through all the state statutes on the subject," Pyle said. "We've taken the request for information very seriously, and staff will bring those responses to the city council as long as all that information has been gathered."

'We're not asking to bend or break the law'

Oklahoma law prohibits registered sex offenders from residing "either temporarily or permanently" within 2,000 feet of schools, parks or childcare centers.

According to records, 21 of Norman's 107 registered sex offenders are currently unhoused. A Department of Justice study states 5% of sex offenders reoffend after three years and 24% reoffend after 15 years.

While the study states recidivism for crime in general is higher than for sex crimes, it also states recidivism rates underestimate actual rates for reoffending. NPD spokesperson Sarah Jensen said the department doesn't keep data on reoffenses.

From March 2021 through February 2022, NPD arrested two unhoused people on suspicion of sex crimes, according to records.

City staff were unsure Friday of sex offender requirements for an overnight shelter that doesn't require background checks or substance abuse screening, like the one proposed for the site.

"To me, I don't think it's a matter of requirements for the facility. I think it's more a matter of, what are the requirements that the registrant is held to? So I don't think a different type of shelter would have a different outcome. I think the registrant is required to keep 'x' number of feet away from any kind of facility," Pyle said.

Pyle said Friday the state told city officials that Norman's homeless population is "already familiar" with Griffin Memorial, which runs on the same land where the proposed shelter would be.

Jensen said detectives don't believe the shelter complies with state sex offender requirements. But Jensen also said NPD would need exact coordinates of the building to determine if it's out of compliance.

"We're not asking to bend the law or break the law, or turn a blind eye to the law," Pyle said. "We just want to make sure that we're able to provide the council with all of the facts that, 'Here's what the rules are for registered offenders, and here's how it applies to this map,' and it'll either preclude or exclude a registered offender from going to the shelter."

City attorney Kathryn Walker did not immediately respond to inquiries Friday in reference to the shelter meeting sex offender requirements.

An ongoing debate

Councilors, service providers and residents have debated the relocation of the shelter to 900 E. Main St. in light of sex offender housing restrictions.

Ward 3 Kelly Lynn argued at the Tuesday council meeting that the shelter has no business being near a school if sex offender screening is not done. Lynn said at the meeting he didn't understand why the city "put this detriment close to the school."

Ward 7 Stephen Holman, who has opposed Lynn on multiple issues related to Norman's unhoused population, said Friday he would like further clarification on NPD's preliminary determination that the building doesn't meet sex offender requirements. He also said he wants evidence that unhoused people staying at the current shelter are sex offenders or predators.

Pyle said Tuesday that the city doesn't screen for sex offenders at the current shelter.

Holman also expressed concerns that not having a shelter would be worse.

"Without a warming shelter like this, that no other entity is willing to operate right now, we would have 25 to 30 people roaming the streets of Norman every night right now," he said.

A petition filed Feb. 7 from former council candidate Teresa Borum, real estate developer Sassan Moghadam and real estate broker and investor Stephen Teel asks the city to not spend money on a shelter without putting the appropriation before the public for a vote.

The petition argued the shelter "will allow sex offenders, a number of which are pedophiles, and violent offenders to stay the night and then roam a low-income neighborhood during the day," and that the mayor and council "do not care about the children walking to and from school every weekday or playing in their yards."

Following campaign claims made by Borum about sex offenders near homeless services, Food and Shelter Director April Heiple argued there is "no greater percentage of sex offenders in the homeless community than in the housed community."

"Where the issue lies is, people see the homeless population, and they're concerned about sex offenders, but just because you're homeless doesn't mean you're a sex offender, and just because you're a sex offender doesn't mean you're homeless," Pyle said.

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