The Phantom MD Sex Offender Advisory Board

Only a few people have heard about Governor Martin O’Malley’s Sexual Offender Advisory Board. That’s because it has never met. In fact, O’Malley has never appointed members to the Board. Nor has he convened the Board’s first meeting even though it was created by legislation in 2006.

The Sexual Offender Advisory Board was a key provision in the “Jessica’s Law” (House Bill 2) passed by the General Assembly during the 2006 Special Session. It was signed by Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., on June 22, 2006.

In addition to mandatory penalties and enhanced community notification procedures, House Bill 2 created the Sexual Offender Advisory Board to insure that Maryland enacted the toughest laws and enforcement measures against sexual predators. Specifically, the Board was charged with: reviewing technology for the tracking of offenders; reviewing the effectiveness of the State’s laws concerning sex offenders; reviewing the laws of other jurisdictions regarding sex offenders; reviewing practices and procedures of the Parole Commission and the Division of Parole and Probation (DPP) regarding supervision and monitoring of sex offenders; reviewing developments in the treatment and assessment of sex offenders; and developing standards for conditions of extended sex offender parole supervision based on current and evolving best practices in the field of sex offender management.

It is now four years later – and O’Malley never appointed the Board. The review of best practices has never occurred. That review may have been able to prevent crimes by sexual predators since 2006.

Moreover, a 2007 law (House Bill 390) that requires mental health evaluations of child sex offenders before their sentencing has also not been implemented by the Administration. (For a report on these failures, see Gazette.Net: click here)

Now, O’Malley has introduced his own package of sex offender bills in the 2010 session – which leads one to wonder: When is he going to get serious about sexual offenders by enforcing the “Jessica’s Laws” already on the books?