Sex Offenders Will Have To Pay To Live In Michigan Under Bill Signed By Gov. Snyder

LANSING (WWJ/AP) - Gov. Rick Snyder has signed legislation requiring registered sex offenders living in Michigan to pay an annual $50 fee.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Rick Jones, replaces the system under which sex offenders paid a one-time $50 fee. Snyder signed the bill into law on Tuesday.

The measure only applies to registered sex offenders who are out of prison. Officials say $20 of each fee would go to local law enforcement and $30 would go to the state. If offenders don't pay the annual fee, they face misdemeanor charges.

Offenders who can't afford the fee would have the chance to make their case and receive a 90-day waiver. To do that, offenders would either have to prove in court that they are indigent, are receiving food assistance from the state, or are living under the federal poverty level.

Snyder said the law brings Michigan in line with neighboring states that require sex offenders to pay for the operating cost of sex offender websites. He said Indiana charges $50 per year, while Illinois and Ohio charge offenders $100 per year.

The state said the move could bring in about $540,000 more in revenue each year.

But not everybody is on board with the new law. Opponents, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, say it's merely a feel-good measure that ignores experiences in other states where the promise of more revenue falls well short of expectations and is an overly burdensome cost for registered sex offenders who already struggle to find housing and jobs.

"They have paid their dues … this is a burden that we just keep piling on," said Shelli Weisberg, legislative liaison for ACLU of Michigan. She argues that the state is not asking offenders to pay for something that benefits them, but something that is intended to protect citizens. Therefore, the state should pay for it.

The bill isn't the first change to Michigan's sex offender registry this year. One of the first bills Snyder signed this session expanded the public sex offender registry to include more people who commit certain crimes against minors, like possessing child pornography.

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