Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 22 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part I - Corrections › Chapter 1 - Secretary's Office › Section I-109 - Louisiana Sex Offender Assessment Panels

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Purpose-to facilitate the identification
				and management of those offenders who may be sexually violent predators and/or
				child sexual predators and to develop written policy and procedures for the sex
				offender assessment panels consistent with statutory requirements, public
				safety and administrative efficiency. The provisions of this regulation shall
				apply to all sex offenders and child predators in accordance with Act no. 205
				of the 2009 Regular Session who are released by any means from the department's
				custody on or after August 15, 2006.
B. Applicability-deputy secretary,
				undersecretary, chief of operations, regional wardens, wardens, director of
				probation and parole, chairman of the board of pardons, chairman of the board
				of parole and the sheriff or administrator of local jail facilities. Each unit
				head is responsible for ensuring that appropriate unit written policy and
				procedures are in place to comply with the provisions of this
				regulation.
C. Policy. It is the
				secretary's policy to identify those offenders who meet the statutory
				requirements of a sexually violent predator and/or child sexual predator
				through the sex offender assessment panel (SOAP) review process. The panels
				shall evaluate all sex offenders and child predators in accordance with the
				provisions of this regulation prior to their release from
				incarceration.
D. Definitions
Child Predator-
a person who has been
				  convicted of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor as defined in
				  R.S.
				  15:541(12).
Child Sexual Predator
-a judicial
				  determination as provided for in
				  R.S.
				  15:560 et seq., for an offender who has been
				  convicted of an offense as defined in
				  R.S.
				  15:541(12) and/or (24) and
				  who is likely to engage in additional sex offenses against children because he
				  has a mental abnormality or condition which can be verified, or because he has
				  a history of committing crimes, wrongs, or acts involving sexually assaultive
				  behavior or acts which indicate a lustful disposition toward children.
Court-
the judicial district court where the
				  offender was sentenced for the instant offense.
Criminal Offense Against a Victim Who is a Minor
-a conviction for the perpetration or attempted perpetration, or
				  conspiracy to commit an offense outlined in
				  R.S.
				  15:541(12). Persons
				  convicted of any of these offenses are considered
child
				  predators
(see definition in this Subsection).
Judicial Determination
-a decision by the
				  court that an offender is or continues to be a child sexual predator or a
				  sexually violent predator.
Mental Abnormality
-a congenital or acquired
				  condition of a person that affects the emotional or volitional capacity of the
				  person in a manner that predisposes that person to the commission of criminal
				  sexual acts to a degree that makes the person a menace to the health and safety
				  of others. Nothing in this definition is intended to supersede or apply to the
				  definitions found in
				  R.S.
				  14:10 or 14 in reference to criminal intent
				  or insanity.
Regional Facility
-a state correctional
				  facility located within one of nine regions of the state, as designated by the
				  secretary. Each warden of a regional facility shall be responsible for certain
				  requirements pursuant to the provisions of this regulation for offenders housed
				  in their state correctional facility, as well as DPSC offenders housed in local
				  jail facilities within their respective region.
Sex Offender
-an offender committed to the
				  custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections for a crime
				  enumerated in
				  R.S.
				  15:541(24). A conviction for
				  any offense provided in this definition includes a conviction for the offense
				  under the laws of another state, or military, territorial, foreign, tribal or
				  federal law equivalent to such offense. An individual convicted of the attempt
				  or conspiracy to commit any of the defined sex offenses shall be considered a
				  sex offender for the purposes of this regulation.
Sexually Violent Predator
-a judicial
				  determination as provided for in
				  R.S.
				  15:560 et seq. for an offender who has been
				  convicted of an offense as defined in
				  R.S.
				  15:541(12) and/or (25) and
				  who has a mental abnormality or anti-social personality disorder that makes the
				  person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses.
E. Panel Composition and
				Guidelines
1. A total of three sex offender
				assessment panels are hereby created within the Department of Public Safety and
				Corrections. An executive management officer within the secretary's office
				shall serve as the administrator for all panels. Three executive staff
				officers, employees of the department (one for each of the three panels), shall
				serve as coordinator for an assigned panel. Each panel shall consist of three
				members as follows.
a. One member shall be
				the secretary or designee who shall be chairman.
b. One member shall be a psychologist
				licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists who has
				been engaged in the practice of clinical or counseling psychology for not less
				than three consecutive years who is employed by the Department of Public Safety
				and Corrections or the Department of Health and Hospitals or a physician in the
				employ of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the Department of
				Health and Hospitals or under contract to the Department of Public Safety and
				Corrections whose credentials and experience are compatible with the evaluation
				of the potential threat to public safety that may be posed by a child sexual
				predator or a sexually violent predator.
i.
				Note - if the psychologist or physician is an employee of the Department of
				Health and Hospitals, the secretary of both departments shall consult and
				jointly select the member.
c. The warden (or deputy) at the state
				facility where the offender is housed or the warden (or deputy) of the regional
				facility for offenders housed in local jail facilities, or a probation and
				parole officer with a minimum of ten years experience or a retired law
				enforcement officer with at least five years of experience in investigating sex
				offenses may serve as the third panel member at the discretion of the
				secretary.