Louisiana § RS 15:543.2 - Sex offenders; emergency situations

§ RS 15:543.2. Sex offenders; emergency situations

A.(1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, during a declaration of emergency, any person who has been required to register as a sex offender as provided for in this Section who enters an emergency shelter shall, within the first twenty-four hours of admittance, notify the management of the facility, the chief of police of the municipality, if the shelter is located in a municipality, and the sheriff of the parish in which the shelter is located of their sex offender status.  The sex offender shall provide his full name, date of birth, social security number, and last address of registration prior to the declaration of emergency.  Within seventy-two hours of receiving the notification required by the provisions of this Paragraph, the chief of police and the sheriff shall forward that information to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information.

(2)  For purposes of this Subsection, "emergency shelter" includes the use of any facility, building, or structure operated by a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides the basic necessities of life, including but not limited to water, food, and shelter, to persons who are displaced from their homes due to a man-made or natural emergency or disaster.

(3)  The manager or director of the emergency shelter shall make a reasonable effort to notify the chief law enforcement officer of the parish or municipality in which the shelter is located of the presence of the sex offender in the emergency shelter.  No person associated with a nonprofit organization which operates an emergency shelter shall be liable for any injury or claim arising out of the failure of the manager or operator to communicate the presence of a sex offender in the shelter to the appropriate law enforcement official.

B.  The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall provide information to every sex offender who is under the supervision of the department with respect to the protocol to be followed in emergency situations.  To implement the provisions of this Section, the department shall adopt rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act which include but are not limited to the following:

(1)  The establishment of a toll-free telephone number which shall be provided to each sex offender for use in contacting the department in emergency situations.

(2)  Dissemination of information to each sex offender of his obligation to notify the management of an emergency shelter of his sex offender status in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 15:542 and of his obligation to report to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, division of probation and parole.

C.  For purposes of this Section, "sex offender" shall mean any person who has committed a sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541.

D.  The failure of the offender to comply with the provisions of this Section shall be considered a violation of a condition of probation and parole and subject the offender to revocation.

Acts 2007, No. 460, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2008.