House Speaker Andrew Romanoff sent letters to two state public safety agencies Friday requesting quarterly reports to the legislature on the status of Colorado’s sexually violent predators.
The data would help lawmakers draft appropriate legislation, if needed, to resolve problems the state has monitoring and identifying sex offenders, Romanoff said.
“I expect the agencies to comply because they share our commitment to protecting the public, the most important job for any government,” Romanoff said.
“The departments have been fairly candid in admitting mistakes and are as eager as I am to correct them,” he added.
The letters were sent to Joe Ortiz and Joe Morales, executive directors of the departments of Corrections and Public Safety.
The reports should include 11 criteria, including the number of people convicted under Colorado’s Sexually Violent Predator statute, Romanoff’s letter says.
The speaker also requested information on the number of offenders given a sexual predator risk assessment, people found to meet the criteria of the assessment, people found by the court to be sexually violent predators and people sentenced to probation or corrections as sexually violent predators.
Ortiz will review Romanoff’s request Monday, said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
Lance Clem, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said his agency could provide what Romanoff is asking for, but most of the criteria requested would come from the Department of Corrections.
“Out of all of these 11, there are only one or two that are related to the department and should be very easy to handle,” he said.
The one request of concern to the Department of Public Safety is in community notification.
“So far, the number of requests we have received from law enforcement agencies is small for the current year,” Clem said. “It’s easy for us to provide. There is nothing in here that would present us with some major issues.”
The letters from Romanoff follow an article in The Denver Post in May about Colorado’s flawed system of identifying high-risk sex offenders.
“We are tying to figure out where the state is falling down on the job, and the series of questions on that list are designed to answer that question,” Romanoff said.
“I think what the public finds most unforgivable is if a sex offender within our net manages to slip through,” he said. “Most understand if we can’t catch them on a first offense, but if an offender is identified and sentenced and still manages to evade the appropriate channels, and communities are not notified, that is insensible and inexcusable.”
After The Post’s report, Gov. Bill Owens formed the Task Force on Sexually Violent Predators to resolve the shortcomings.
“It’s hard to put a price on public safety here,” Romanoff said. “If your kid is at risk, I am not sure you would be comforted by the excuse that the state agency could not be bothered. It’s not an appropriate excuse and not one that I expect.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
