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MPR News Sex offender ordinances considered across the state April 24, 2006 Taylors Falls is a tourist town nestled along the St. Croix River, just northeast of the Twin Cities. People come here to enjoy the beautiful river gorge and the picturesque buildings. But recently some people have been coming for more than the scenery. They've been taking a look at Mayor Mike Buchite's city ordinance that limits where sex offenders can live in the town. The ordinance restricts certain offenders from staying -- even overnight -- within 2,000 feet of any place children gather. That's about one-third of a mile. Buchite leans over a map of the city. "We had our city engineer identify areas on the map that were either playgrounds, a school, a church, a bus stop," he says, pointing to different locations on the map. "And then from there he took our distances from our ordinance and he drew circles around those areas. And you can tell these are the open spaces where an individual is not prohibited from living." Buchite admits the circles cover almost the entire community. "It's a big portion of the city," he says. Much of the area left over has no housing. The ordinance applies to Level Three sex offenders, who are believed to pose the greatest risk for re- offending. It also applies to anyone who has committed a sex offense against a juvenile. Mayor Buchite says this is simply to protect children. If any Level Three offender moved to his city, he'd have a way to deal with them. He disagrees with people who say the ordinance is a violation of constitutional rights. "There are cities that have smoking bans within so many feet of a park. You're talking about seat belt laws, you're talking about child restraints," Buchite says. "Any time you have broken the law, there is some type of punishment that goes along with the crime." Communities across the country are moving ahead with similar laws and ordinances. California will have a measure on its November ballot. The movement to restrict where sex offenders can live began in Iowa. In 2002, Iowa's Legislature passed a law that prohibited all people convicted of a sex crime from living near a school, daycare center or park. Many municipalities further tightened those restrictions. Offenders filed a class action lawsuit, claiming the law infringed upon their rights to interstate travel and privacy. They also said the restriction was tantamount to banishment, because available housing was either too expensive or 50 miles away. The U.S. District Court sided with the offenders, but the appelate court reversed the decision. The U.S. Supreme Court later declined to take up the case.