CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island legislators are supporting a proposed bill that would limit the number of homeless sex offenders at state-run residential facilities.
The Providence Journal reports that House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello says he is in favor of a legislation that would limit the amount of sex offenders in certain facilities. The bill was drafted by Republican Rep. Robert Lancia to address an influx of homeless sex offenders at Cranston’s Harrington Hall shelter.
Lancia’s plan would cap the number of sex offenders at 10 percent. The law would exclude hospitals, nursing homes and psychiatric facilities.
More than half of Providence’s housing is off limits to sex offenders after a law banned offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school.
Lancia says the state government will have to find a solution.
