"We are proposing that every first-time sex offender who commits a violent sexual crime gets a mandatory sentence of 20 years incarceration followed by lifetime supervised probation," Hoeven said. "We need to make sure that anyone who commits a violent sexual crime in North Dakota receives a sentence that fits the crime and protects the public."
Legislation is also being proposed that would strengthen the civil commitment process for sexually dangerous individuals by making it clear that judges have the ultimate authority to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to commit a person as a sexually dangerous individual.
"In a recent case, civil commitment was denied because a judge determined that our law required two psychologists to predict definitively that the offender would commit further acts of sexually predatory conduct", Hoeven said. "This legislation removes the requirement that two psychologists reach this conclusion, and makes it clear that the judge is responsible to decide whether to commit an offender, based on all the evidence presented in the case."
"The state still will be required to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent is a sexually dangerous individual. However, now the court will determine when that burden has been met, rather than a rigid formula of merely adding up experts," Stenehjem added.
Background Checks
