Violent sex offenders on probation or parole would be tracked by satellite under a proposal by Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, that passed out of committee Wednesday.
But the unknown price tag could work against the bill, which is part of a nationwide effort to promote tough penalties in the wake of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford’s rape and murder three years ago in Florida, Gardner said.
Mark Lunsford, Jessica’s father, said that when his daughter’s killer was monitored by satellite, he behaved himself. But three months after the killer’s parole was up and the monitoring bracelet was taken off, he abducted Jessica from her family home.
Gardner wants offenders to pay for their own monitoring, which would reduce costs for the state. Thirty-three states monitor sex-offender parolees by satellite, proponents of the bill say. Gardner said House Bill 1219 is a first step toward lifetime satellite monitoring of sex offenders.
John Ingold, The Denver Post
