In 2017, the Missouri Criminal Code was substantially revised for the first time in decades. With the countless changes, a new law recently became known which requires hundreds of sex offenders in the state of Missouri to wear GPS tracking devices for life. This law will be retroactively applied to sex offenders who committed certain offenses even though it was never part of their sentence. Many individuals who have already served their sentence and are no longer on probation and parole will be effected by this law. Hundreds of sex offenders in the state of Missouri were completely caught off guard by this new retroactive law.
Offenders either found guilty or who pleaded guilty to 13 various sex crimes in question based on an act committed on or after Aug. 28, 2006, are subject to the added security measures. Previously, the monitoring technology was used for a more limited class of high-risk offenders. This requirement is in addition to lifetime registration in the sex offender database.
Proponents of this law say this is merely an additional security measure in place for individuals who have pleaded guilty or been found guilty of committing sex offense crimes, many of which were involving child victims. Opponents of this newly enacted law cite the slippery slope of enacting a retroactive law which is applied to individuals who were not required to wear a GPS tracking device as part of their sentence and many of whom have already paid their debt to society by fulfilling their prison or probation sentence. The new law is currently being challenged to determine whether it is constitutional.
If you or a loved one have been accused of a sex offense or are subject to Missouri’s newly enacted retroactive law requiring a GPS tracking device, our attorneys can help. Call the Missouri sex offense attorneys at Henderson & Waterkotte, P.C. to schedule a free consultation.