No Exceptions? Irvine Moves Towards Banning Sex Offenders from City Parks

Following on the heels of Orange County's April 5th decision to ban sex offenders from their parks, the city of Irvine is moving towards implementing a similar ban, according to L.A. Now. After the passage of the ban, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and Supervisor Shawn Nelson sent letters to individual cities in the county urging them to take action, since the County ban does not apply to City parks.

One receptive city was Irvine, where City Councilman Jeffrey Lalloway supports the ordinance in the County, and, ideally, in his city. The scope of such an ordinance in Irvine, however, remains uncertain: "Lalloway said he hoped the Irvine ordinance would cover all 18 of the city's community parks, plus the Orange County Great Park, but added that there could be exceptions."

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said initially that the ordinance would be enforced on a case-by-case basis, however now Hutchens says she does not see any exceptions under which registered sex offenders would be permitted to enter parks. In turn, Hutchens' perspective regarding the ban in the county could impact how Irvine enforces their proposed ordinance.