| For Immediate Release | For more information contact: |
| March 17, 2000 | Erik Paulsen (651-296-7449) |
St. Paul State Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Eden Prairie) voted in favor of legislation on the House floor entitled "Katie's Law" that increases the penalties for sex offenders and creates a state- wide integrated computer system to track criminal records. The legislation was initiated by the Katie Poirer Task Force and law enforcement agencies.
"Over the past few years, Minnesota has been the scene of several highly publicized crimes involving children that touched our hearts and made us think a little more about the safety and well-being of our loved-ones," said Paulsen.
Katie's Law includes numerous provisions to toughen the laws on sex predators, such as increased penalties, restrictions on name changes and lifetime registration for sex offenders. Rep. Paulsen's provision to expand community notification for sex offenders on the internet is also included in the bill. It requires the Commissioner of Corrections to maintain a web-site of Level III sex offenders.
"We need to provide our communities with more tools to keep everyone informed and safe," said Paulsen. "In addition to holding community notification meetings, the internet is an inexpensive way to provide this information to the public ."
The legislation also allocates $10 million for an integrated computer system to link law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Currently, Minnesota has approximately 1,100 different agencies and departments that keep criminal records. Many of those records are kept on computer systems that are unable to communicate with systems in other local agencies or departments. As a result, criminal records are often incomplete and may be missing such integral items as fingerprints, mugshots, past criminal records or probation restrictions.
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