It is common to find communities rallying together to push convicted sex offenders out. In Moose Lake, those offenders are big business, as they provide jobs and an economic base through the Minnesota Sex Offender program that's housed in a secure facility just off highway 73.
Tuesday, ground was broken for a project that will bring even more money to town. "This is a $45 million expansion," explained Mike Tessneer, CEO of State Operated Services, "and we're going this year for phase two (at the legislature), which would be another 400 bed expansion plus the infrastructure needs to support the entire 800 bed facility."
The current expansion, and tentative plans for another 400 beds at Moose Lake underline an expensive reality in Minnesota; protecting citizens from sexually dangerous criminals costs big bucks.
Offenders who come to the Sex Offender Program are officially referred to as patients, as they've completed their prison sentences, and have been civilly committed. They are then the responsibility of the Department of Human Services, which says it costs $141,000 each year to house and treat just one sexually dangerous person.
"There's clearly a cost," agreed John Kingrey, Executive Director of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, "and at this point we're saying, because of public safety, it's worth that cost."
Demand for facilities like the one at Moose Lake show no sign of dropping either. The number of sex offender cases referred to county attorneys by the Department of Corrections for indefinite civil commitment skyrocketed following the 2003 murder of Dru Sjodin, by level 3 sex offender Alphonso Rodriguez.
Many questioned the DOC's decision to release Rodriguez, instead of recommend him for commitment. The department has clearly altered its standards in the time since.
In 2002, the year before Sjodin was murdered; the DOC recommended just 13 sex offender cases to county attorneys statewide for civil commitment. Last year, that number was 170.
"What I've heard from around the state from our county attorneys is that commitments for our sexual predators has certainly increased," confirmed Kingrey, "and that seems to be universal across the state."
(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
