HIGHLIGHTS OF MINUTES
Legislative Committee Meeting 8/10/06

SB 24 – threats to harm social workers, etc.
Discussion on the issue of whether or not we should pursue this another year. Committee members felt it was worth one more try. The recommendation was made that we try to get someone in the House and the Senate to sponsor the bill so it moves faster. Senator Brown will be asked if he’ll be willing to sponsor it again, and if he feels it’s got a real chance.

Training issues
Discussion regarding concerns expressed by counties regarding lack of CHIPS issues in basic intake training.

DJC report - Gretchen Kubnick
Gretchen described DOC’s efforts on the Act 5 legislation regarding sex offenders. In consultation with Dr. Anna Salter, DOC prepared guidelines for law enforcement to use in deciding whether or not to release juvenile sex offender’s information to the community. Unfortunately, this is still on Sec. Frank’s desk. Governor Doyle’s SAFE Committee was to review it on August 17th. DJC has had a meeting with SORP. DJC will train the SORP specialists. DJC is recommending that law enforcement use core teams, like in the adult cases. The core team should include the county worker and their supervisor. Gretchen also reported that President Bush signed the “Adam Walsh” bill into law. This federal law will trump state SORP laws. There will be a training of law enforcement by SORP. Our committee asked Gretchen that county workers also be provided some training, as we are the ones on the front end getting questions from the community and law enforcement.