Sex Offender Registration

Texas Sex Offender State Map

Texas Public Sex Offender Registry

White Settlement Registration Information

All persons required to register as a sex offender within the jurisdictional boundaries of the City of White Settlement shall contact the department and complete the registration process. Under Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the Texas Sex Offender Registration Program was established to mandate sex offender registration and allow public notification designed to protect the community from sex offenders. This law requires adult and juvenile sex offenders to register with the local law enforcement authority of the city they reside in or, if the sex offender does not reside in the city, with the local law enforcement authority of the county they reside in.

Registration involves the sex offender providing the White Settlement Police Department with information that includes, but is not limited to, the sex offender's name and address, a color photograph, and the offense the offender was convicted of or adjudicated for. Registered sex offenders are required to periodically report to the White Settlement Police Department to verify the accuracy of the registration information and to promptly report certain changes in the information as those changes occur. A sex offender who fails to comply with any registration requirement is subject to felony prosecution.

To register, please visit the White Settlement Police Department during normal business hours.

White Settlement City Ordinance Governing Sex Offenders

ARTICLE X. REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS

Sec. 30-239. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Minor or child means a person younger than 17 years of age.

Permanent residence means a place where a person abides, lodges, or resides for 14 or more consecutive days.

Temporary residence means a place where a person abides, lodges, or resides for a period of 14 or more days in the aggregate during any calendar year and which is not the person's permanent residence, or a place where a person routinely abides, resides, or lodges for a period of four or more consecutive days or nonconsecutive days in any month and which is not the person's permanent residence.

(Code 2008, § 34-206; Ord. No. 2302-06, § I(8.1101), 12-19-2006)

Sec. 30-240. Offenses.

(a) For each person required to register on, and for so long as that person is required to register on, the state department of public safety's sex offender database ("the database"), because of a violation involving a victim who was a minor, it is unlawful for that person to establish a permanent residence or temporary residence in the city within 1,000 feet of any public or private school, day care facility, public park, public playground, public or private youth center, public swimming pool, place of recreation as defined by city ordinances or skating rinks. For the purposes of this article, planted street medians shall not be considered public parks.

(b) This offense will apply and continue to be in effect so long as there exists the requirement to register with the equivalent of the database, regardless of the name assigned to it or the department or agency which oversees and administers it.

(c) It shall not be an offense for a person to own real property within the prohibited area, but such person may not establish a permanent or temporary residence at such property.

(Code 2008, § 34-207; Ord. No. 2302-06, § I(8.1102), 12-19-2006)

State law reference(s)—Sex offender registration, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 62.001 et seq.

Sec. 30-241. Evidentiary matters; measurements.

(a) It shall be prima facie evidence that this article applies to a person if that person's name or records pertaining to that person appears on the database and the database indicates that the victim was a minor.

(b) For the purposes of determining the minimum distance separation, the 1,000-foot requirement shall be measured by following a straight line from the outer property line of the permanent or temporary residence to the nearest property line of the premises set out herein where children gather, or, in the case of multiple residences on one property, measuring from the nearest property line of the property where the multiple residences are situated to the nearest property line of the premises set out herein where children gather.

(c) A map depicting the prohibited areas shall be maintained by the city. City and police personnel shall review the map at least annually on a calendar-year basis for changes and produce a new map if same is necessary. The map will be available to the public at the police department.

(Code 2008, § 34-208; Ord. No. 2302-06, § I(8.1103), 12-19-2006)

Sec. 30-242. Culpable mental state not required.

Neither allegation nor evidence of a culpable mental state is required for the proof of an offense defined by this article, and any offense shall be considered a strict liability offense.

(Code 2008, § 34-209; Ord. No. 2302-06, § I(8.1104), 12-19-2006)

Sec. 30-243. Affirmative defenses.

It is an affirmative defense to the prosecution of an offense under this article that any of the following conditions apply:

(1) The person required to register on the database established his permanent or temporary residence in the city prior to the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived, and has complied with all sex offender registration laws of the state. It is provided, however, that this article and the prohibitions contained herein shall apply to an affected person who changes or moves his residence after the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived.

(2) The person required to register on the database is a minor, or was a minor when he committed the offense requiring such registration and was not convicted as an adult.

(3) The premises where children commonly gather as set out herein was opened or began to be used as such after the person established the permanent or temporary residence, and the person has complied with all sex offender registration laws of the state. It is provided, however, that this article and the prohibitions contained herein shall apply to an affected person who changes or moves his residence after the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived.

(4) The information in the database pertaining to that person is incorrect and, if corrected, this article would not apply to that person.

(Code 2008, § 34-210; Ord. No. 2302-06, § I(8.1105), 12-19-2006)

Sec. 30-244. Penalty.

Any person violating the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not to exceed the sum of $500.00 for each offense, and each and every day such violation shall continue shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense.

(Code 2008, § 34-211; Ord. No. 2302-06, § I(8.1106), 12-19-2006)

Secs. 30-245—30-266. Reserved.