A Denver City Council committee forwarded a proposal to start charging a $75 fee to individuals who must register as sex offenders when they move to the city.
The entire $190,000 cost of the registering the 1,300 sex offenders living in the city is currently paid by the city’s general fund. In the past, sex offenders paid no fee to register.
The Denver Police Department hopes to recoup about $90,000 of that cost by requiring sex offenders to pay the $75 registration fee.
Those offenders deemed sexually violent predators would pay another $30 quarterly fee to renew their registration. There are only three sexually violent predators registered with the city, but all of those individuals have moved to other cities, Police Chief Gerry Whitman said.
The Safety Committee of the Denver City Council forwarded the proposal to the Denver City Council for final consideration.
The original proposal that came before the committee would have charged sex offenders $60 to register with the city and a $20 renewal fee, with another $20 for quarterly renewal of sexually violent predators.
At the urging of Councilman Rick Garcia, the committee agreed to go with the higher fees. Councilman Doug Linkhart objected because he feared charging the higher fee could discourage registration and make it harder for the city to track where sex offenders are living.
The registration requires sex offenders to pose for photographs and give the city the location of their address.
Councilmembers attending the committee meeting expressed concern because so many sex offenders are registered as living in Denver. Jefferson County has 225 registered sex offenders and Colorado Springs has 1,000 registered sex offenders.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or at cosher@denverpost.com.
