Child Safety Zones

If an offender is 1) required to register in the State of Iowa and, 2) has been convicted of an "aggravated offense against a minor", he/she is prohibited from residing within 2,000 feet of the real property comprising a school or child care facility. 

Registration in Iowa is either for 10-years or for life, depending on the statute the offender is convicted of and if the offender has any prior convictions for qualifying offenses.  The residency restriction applies ONLY to the (3) Iowa statutes listed in the definition of "aggravated offense against a minor". Offenders convicted for any other Iowa statute or convicted in another jurisdiction, regardless of whether the victim was a minor, are exempt from the residency restriction.

The residency restriction in Iowa are for registrants with victims who were minors where the offense is an "aggravated offense against a minor" [Sex Abuse 1, 2, 3 minus 709.4 sub (2)(c)(4)]:  The  sex offender shall not reside within two thousand feet of the real property comprising a school or a child care facility.  Registrants with adult victims are exempt from these restrictions.

Here is a link to the Iowa Code 2009 692A Sex Offender Registry:

http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=IowaCode&ga=83

Offenders are required to verify their information in person at the Sheriff's Office of their principal residence based on their assigned tier level. Tier I requires in person verification once per year, tier II requires in person verification every 6 months, and tier III requires in person verification every 3 months.  Tier levels are based ONLY on the offense or offenses for which the person is currently registered and are used ONLY to establish how many times each year a registered sex offender is required to report IN PERSON to his Sheriff’s Office to update registration information.  A person’s tier level does NOT have any effect on whether the person is subject to the 2,000 ft law, how long he is required to register, the results of any risk assessment or any other element of sex offender registration.  It is used ONLY to determine how often the person must update registration information.

These areas where sexual offenders are prohibited from residing are commonly referred to as "Child Safety Zones or Exclusion Zones".

For registrants with victims who were minors:

The sex offender may not be present upon the real property of a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school without the written permission of the school administrator or school administrator's designee, unless enrolled as a student at the school. The offender is also prohibited from the following:

• Loiter within three hundred feet of the real property boundary of a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school, unless enrolled as a student at the school.
• Be present on or in any vehicle or other conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school without the written permission of the school administrator or school administrator's designee when the vehicle is in use to transport students to or from a school or school-related activities, unless enrolled as a student at the school or unless the vehicle is simultaneously made available to the public as a form of public transportation.
• Be present upon the real property of a child care facility without the written permission of the child care facility administrator.
• Loiter within three hundred feet of the real property boundary of a child care facility.
• Be present upon the real property of a public library without the written permission of the library administrator.
• Loiter within three hundred feet of the real property boundary of a public library.
• Loiter on or within three hundred feet of the premises of any place intended primarily for the use of minors including but not limited to a playground available to the public, a children's play area available to the public, recreational or sport-related activity area when in use by a minor, a swimming or wading pool available to the public when in use by a minor, or a beach available to the public when in use by a minor.

The Exclusion Zones map will soon be available in the lobby of the Law Enforcement Center 330 W. Second St.  It will show the 2000 foot zones for the area surrounding Agassiz Elementary School, Douma Elementary School, Eisenhower Elementary School, Horace Mann Elementary School, James Elementary School, Pickwick Elementary School, Wildwood Elementary School, Wilson Elementary School, Evans Middle School, Seton Catholic School, Calvary Baptist School, Ottumwa High School, Ottumwa Alternative School and the Ottumwa Christian School.  It will also have the child dare care facilities as well.

The Iowa Sex Offender Registry and Iowa Courts Online website can assist you with obtaining public information regarding convicted sex offenders.

If you believe a sexual offender is residing in a restricted area, please call the police non-emergency telephone number at (641)683-0661 and provide the police dispatcher with your information, including the offender's name and address. The information will then be forwarded to the Investigations Unit for followup.

Link to Iowa Sex Offender Registry Web Stats by county, just click on the county you want to look at:

http://www.iowasexoffender.com/webstats

Link to frequently asked questions about the Sex Offender Registry and Residency Restrictions:

 http://www.iowasexoffender.com/faq/content

A great new tool has made itself available to the Ottumwa Police Department.  "A Child Is Missing" (ACIM), a national non-profit organization, offers free assistance to law enforcement agencies to locate missing persons. ACIM takes a description from police and sends out a pre-recorded message to all published phone numbers within a one mile radius of the location given. This new resource does not replace existing alert systems like Amber Alert but can be used along with them to locate the missing child or person. Other Facts about "A Child Is Missing" * Caller ID's will show 999-999-9999 when ACIM calls * ACIM does not place follow up calls when the child/person is located. This is due to cost and to prevent desensitizing the public with additional calls. * Calls are only made to published phone numbers that are landlines, not to unpublished phone numbers or cell phones. If databases for the other numbers become available at a reasonable cost they may be added later. To learn more about "A Child Is Missing" please click on the link below or the logo above.