Member Submission:  FL county ordinances need to be rescinded

Florida Action Committee is working toward filing a lawsuit to begin taking down the insane Florida county ordinances that are spreading from county to county like a cancer.  All it takes is for one county/municipal commissioner to hear of a sex offense ordinance in a nearby county and they decide to propose it in their own locality.  Never has any recent crime been committed to warrant such a proposed ordinance.  It is only done because they can get away with it, and then they have the political fodder they need for their next political race:  They have made children safer, which is an untruth.

If your county does not currently have a sex offense ordinance, it is only a matter of time until it will have one unless we begin taking them down through the courts.

The following letter was sent to all five county commissioners in St. John’s County by an FAC member because of the amended ordinance they passed in 2023.  This FAC member lives in a county which does not currently have a sex offense ordinance but fears it is coming after their experience this past summer in St. John’s County, a county that was once thought to be one of the “safer” counties to live in.

Dear Commissioner ___________________,

This past June, my family spent a week at Ocean Gallery in St. John’s County.  We have been doing this for the past 10 years and have always found it a blessed time together at Ocean Gallery.  Money is also spent by our family enjoying the many fine restaurants in St. John’s County along with shopping at the outlet mall and local stores.  Publix receives daily visits from us as we usually have anywhere from 18 to 24 people staying in 5 condos.

My husband and I always had our own condo and would choose one that could handle as many as 24 people for supper each evening.  We never held back on costs.

My husband passed away this past January, and I did return with my family to Ocean Gallery but this time was alone in my oceanfront condo.  As I knew there would be lonely times, I planned on visits from friends to spend time with me when I was not with family.

One of my friends I invited to have lunch with me at my condo is required to register as a sexual offender for one count of viewing child porn approximately 20 years ago.  This is a man who served his country for over 20 years in the U.S. Military with an Honorable Discharge.  Yes, he made a mistake, but because of the disciplined man that he is, he learned his lesson and has walked the straight and narrow path since that one mistake was made.

This individual is a person who sets the ultimate example of someone who made a wrong decision, and because of the consequences dealt out to him, he knew he would never make such a bad decision again and has led a life as a law-abiding citizen that others can follow.

It was with utter shock that I learned that the St. John’s County Commissioners passed a “sex offender ordinance” that would not allow him to even have lunch with me, let alone stay at Ocean Gallery.  Ordinance 2023-46 “prohibits the presence of registered sexual offenders and sexual predators from being present within 1000 feet of specified locations” or “to be on or within a Safety Zone” with one being the amenity centers at the many St. John’s County resorts.

This man is not a pedophile.  He served out his sentence as a model inmate.  St. John’s County wants to continue to punish him along with me.  He has spent nearly the past 20 years following all 52 registry requirements, state statutes, and local ordinances that pertain to people on the registry.

In most states, with his conviction and perfect record since his release, he would be off the registry by now—but not in Florida.

Nothing happened for the St. John’s commissioners to pass this ordinance.  It was passed just because they could.  Most people on the registry are locked out of any decent-paying job and therefore do not have the money to challenge such frivolous ordinances.

Research shows that the sexual recidivism rate for people on the sex offender registry is lower than that for any other crime, except for murder.

At least 90% of future sex crimes will be committed by people NOT on the registry.  I could not invite my friend to have lunch with me that day, a friend that is a law-abiding citizen in all ways, but I can guarantee you that statistically there was at least one person at the resort that week that has either committed an act that would be classified as a sex crime or will commit one in the future.

At least 93% or more of minors who are victims of a sex crime know their perpetrator.  They are family members, neighbors, school employees, adults working in sports with children, daycare employees, etc.  They are not strangers.

What is St. John’s doing to educate these future perpetrators?  Absolutely nothing as they are coming down on the people who are highly unlikely to sexually re-offend.

These proximity ordinances are growing from county to county much as a cancer would.  Time and time again, nothing has happened in each of these counties to warrant a ban on people on the registry who are NOT sexually re-offending.

The county commissioners have also taken away the fun and freedom that I have always enjoyed in your county.  I am a law-abiding citizen who has never broken any laws, not even receiving a speeding ticket.  I have lost a freedom in your county by not being allowed to have a simple lunch with my friend.

I do not want to return to St. John’s County.  It is no longer a county that makes decisions based on research, preferring instead to use myths and emotions.

I am in no way defending or supporting the minority of people on the sex offender registry who continue to sexually re-offend.  They should be punished for their new crimes.

Sincerely,

Cc: The Ocean Gallery