Involuntary commitment for dangerous sex offenders urged, lawmakers want study results before acting

Sex offenders deemed dangerous to the community could be forcibly and indefinitely committed to mental health treatment despite having completed a criminal sentence, under a bill sponsored by Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, and three other Assembly Democrats.

The bill, AB181, would add Nevada to a list of 19 other states that confine to treatment sex offenders who are determined to be at risk to re-offend.

• https://nelis.leg.state.nv.us/App#/Meeting/324/Overview/AB181

The Assembly Committee on Judiciary heard testimony Friday on the proposal but did not act. Several members said they favored postponing a decision on such a program until the 2013 legislative session, after a study can be done to explore the potential cost to the state.

"It is completely different from prison," said Danielle Barrazza, an intern for Horne who testified before the committee, describing how the process would work. "(Offenders) are able to wear their own clothes, keep their own possessions, have their own visitors, they are able to use the telephone."

According to documents Barrazza presented, the cost of such programs for states who have already implemented them range from $180,000 per committment per year in Pennsylvania to $32,000 in Texas, which has an outpatient-based program.

• https://nelis.leg.state.nv.us/App#/Meeting/324/Exhibit/1434

The cost, however, can quickly multiply because once offenders are in the system juries and state officials are reluctant to release them.

"It adds up," Barrazza said. "You have more people coming in than coming out."

Several people testified against the bill, most of them suggesting the implementation could be broader than anticipated and saddle the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services (of the Department of Health and Human Services) with out-of-control expenses.

"What you are being asked to do is very serious,"• said Lisa Rasmussen, legislative chairperson for Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice. "There is a big impact on the state of Nevada financially, but also in terms of what it means to the justice community."

• https://nelis.leg.state.nv.us/App#/Meeting/324/Exhibit/1478

Committee members mostly asked witnesses about what could be done to control costs.

Horne, the main sponsor, didn't object to the notion of deferring the decision until a more thorough study is complete.