ANNUAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FEE S.B. 221 (S-2):
FLOOR SUMMARY
Senate Bill 221 (Substitute S-2 as reported by the Committee of the Whole)
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Sex Offenders Registration Act to require a person registered under the Act to pay an annual, rather than a one-time, $50 registration fee.
Under the Act, an individual who is required to be registered and is not incarcerated must report in person to the registering authority (a law enforcement agency) where he or she lives. The registrant must report annually, biannually, or quarterly, depending on whether he or she is a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III offender.
An individual who reports must pay a $50 registration fee if he or she has not already paid a fee upon original registration. The fee must be paid only once. Under the bill, instead, an individual who reported as required would have to pay a $50 registration fee upon initial registration and then annually. The fee could not be prorated on the grounds that the registrant would complete his or her registration period after the month in which the fee was due.
The bill also would revise the schedule for registrants' annual, biannual, or quarterly reporting to a registering authority. Currently, Tier I offenders must report in January; Tier II offenders must report in January and July; and Tier III offenders must report in January, April, July, and October. Under the bill, Tier I offenders would have to report during the month of their birth. Tier II offenders would have to report during two specific months, and Tier III offenders would have to report during four specific months, according to a schedule based on the month of their birth.
MCL 28.725a Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have a significant fiscal impact on State and local funding for support of operations under the Act, increasing the current annual restricted revenue for this purpose from approximately $160,000 in fee revenue to up to $700,000.
According to the Michigan State Police (MSP), current revenue from the one-time registration fee provides approximately $90,000 in support at the State level for operation of the database and other duties and $60,000 at the local law enforcement level. With the bill's requirement that each of the registrants pay an annual, rather than a one-time, $50 fee, the MSP would receive up to $420,000 and local units up to $280,000. The amount would most likely be less than this figure due to allowances for indigent offenders and overall enforcement success.
At the State level, it currently costs approximately $1.2 million annually to operate the registry, with $600,000 alone needed to maintain the database, clearly demonstrating that little of the operation is covered by current registration fees. Funding for the program consists of fee revenue, grants, and General Fund support. Under the bill, approximately 60% of the State's cost would be covered by restricted revenue from the proposed fees and local law enforcement agencies would receive considerably more funding to support their enforcement duties under the Act.
It is not known at this time whether the MSP would use the additional funds made available under the bill to supplant existing GF/GP support for the program, initiate improvements in the operation of the Act's provisions, or do some combination of the two.
Date Completed: 5-1-13 Fiscal Analyst: Bruce Baker
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.