Where to cut? State lawmakers target government workers, teachers - KENS 5 TV

by Brian New / KENS 5

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Posted on January 3, 2011 at 5:55 PM

Updated today at 6:28 PM

The new year could bring big changes to state laws.

Fewer government workers, fewer teachers, and fewer registrations of sex offenders are all being proposed by state lawmakers.

With a projected state budget shortfall of $25 billion, one proposed solution is to get rid of the law that limits elementary class size to 22 students.

Proponents say the change would give local school district more flexibility and could save hundreds of millions of dollars

However, teacher groups say it could come at the expense of thousands of jobs and of a child's education.

"I think the class-size limits would be a terrible place to cut,” said Shelley Potter, president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel. “The biggest impact would be on the students, and that's the negative impact that we are concerned about." 

With many local governments struggling financially as much as the state, Representative-elect Lyle Larson of San Antonio filed a bill that would allow the consolidation of the Bexar County and San Antonio governments.

Larson said it would save millions by eliminating duplicate services.

"It's just more efficient and more effective government, and I think that's what people are asking for," he said.

Not all the bills filed so far focus on cutting the budget.

Mary Sue Molnar of Texas Voices is pushing for a bill she says would turn her son’s life around.

She said her son has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life because, when he was 22 years old, he had consensual sex with a 16-year-old.

A new bill would allow such "Romeo and Juliet" sex offenders to petition to take their names off the registry.

"With so many thousands of people on the registry, we don't really know who possesses a threat and who doesn't," Molnar said.

Molnar said the bill is about having a more efficient sex offender registry and not just a large one.

Opponents argue Texas families deserve the right to know whether an individual who was convicted of a sex crime lives nearby regardless of the circumstances of their crime. 

LINKS TO BILLS:

HJB 44 – City / County Consolidation:

 

HB 227 – Exempting Sex Offenders from Registry:

 

State Comptroller Susan Combs proposal to relax class size limit:

 

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Convicted sex offender accused in Walgreens attack was just released from prison - WSBT-TV

Kemp attempted to flee the scene, but about five bystanders actually chased him down and held him until police arrived.

He's being held at the St. Joseph County Jail on a rape charge. 

Kemp, released from prison only two days before the attack, is listed on the Indiana Sex Offender registry as a Sexually Violent Predator. According to his parole officer, the state has done everything required after his release. He met with officers the day he was released and was scheduled to start treatment Monday.

Kemp served his time; it was a mandatory release. But after this accusation, he was back behind bars.

Kemp is behind bars for at least the third time. He was convicted in 2003 for criminal deviant conduct in Miami County. Kemp was released from prison in 2009. Only a couple of months later, he was back in jail for breaking into a home in Wabash County and was later convicted of intimidation in Wabash County as well.

Reaching his mandatory release date this Thursday, it only took Kemp a couple of days to violate parole, accused of a heinous act.

"It's quite rare for someone to come out and offend right out of the gate like this,” Charles Bowen, assistant district supervisor at the South Bend Parole Office.

Bowen says all violent sex offenders are kept on a short leash.

"I met with him on the day he got out, and we went over, laid out all of the rules. We had requested some additional stipulations to his parole based on his prior history," Bowen added.

Kemp was given a list of 25 rules to keep him away from potential victims, including refraining from "cruising" places he could find potential victims and mandatory psychiatric treatment that would have started Monday.

"He would have started his treatment this week, but obviously he's not going to get to that point," Bowen said.

That's also when he would have updated his Sex Offender Registration. That still shows Kemp as incarcerated.

"We can't control human behavior, that's what's frustrating about this," Bowen said.

There have been reports that there is an outstanding warrant for Kemp in Wabash County.  According to the parole office, that warrant is not valid. It was dealt with in September 2009.

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