Parks Ban for Sex Offenders Back Before Council

A proposal to ban sex offenders from Lake Forest parks, modeled after a , comes before the City Council at its Tuesday evening meeting.

The city has 27 parks from which offenders who have committed certain sex crimes would be forbidden.

Under the proposal, registered sex offenders would be prohibited from entering city-owned, leased, operated and maintained parks without written permission from the Orange County Sheriff's Department to enter the park.

In November, and directed staff to fast-track a proposal modeled after the county's ban to the agenda for discussion.

The proposal was by .

Orange County District Attorney’s Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder will attend the meeting in support of the ordinance. Schroeder and other representatives from the DA's office have attended similar meetings throughout the county to push for the law's passage.

Opponents have debated the constitutionality of the ban, which has been implemented in a handful of Orange County cities since the county law took effect this spring.

The staff report predicts "minimal fiscal impact" associated with the proposed law, but notes that "potential litigation and implementation costs related to this ordinance, if any, are unknown."

If approved Tuesday, a second reading of the proposed ordinance would take later in December. If approved at that meeting, it would go into effect 30 days later.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday in .