Legislature pushes sex offender notification through

By a vote of 127 to 1, the Minnesota House passed emergency legislation Monday to adjust the state's sex offender notification law.

State officials are poised to discharge a man who completed treatment in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, but current law does not require community notification because he is going first to a halfway house.

Rep. Kathy Lohmer, R-Lake Elmo, said the bill would close what she termed a "loophole" in the law. Lohmer said urgent action was needed because the discharge could come soon.

"What's wrong with the community notification? Why do we not want to do this as soon as we possibly can? Give the law enforcement a chance to do this."

Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester was the only one to speak against the bill. She argued there would be plenty of time to address the issue through the normal process.

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