Breckenridge Texan

Some convicted sex offenders will have a more difficult time finding a place to live in Breckenridge after the City Commissioners passed a new ordinance at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 5, restricting the places that certain sex offenders can live.

Ordinance No. 19-02 was publicly read for the second time at Tuesday night’s meeting and then voted into law by the commissioners. It will officially go into effect in about 10 days.

The ordinance does not apply to the 23 registered sex offenders already living in Breckenridge, as long as they remain in their current residence. It will apply to registered sex offenders moving into the city, as well as to those currently living here who decide to move to another location within the city.

Under the new ordinance, convicted sex offenders who are required to register with the State of Texas as sex offenders will be prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a Child Safety Zone, knowingly entering a Child Safety Zone or knowingly loitering on a public way within 300 feet of a Child Safety Zone. A sex offender will also be prohibited from leaving on a porch light on Oct. 30 or 31 between the hours of 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. or otherwise trying to invite trick-or-treaters to their premises.

Child safety zones as defined under the ordinance include but are not limited to:

• Public parks and playgrounds;
• Private and public schools;
• Public library;
• Video arcades or other amusement arcades;
• Indoor or outdoor amusement centers or amusement parks, or carnivals, circuses, fairs, or fair grounds;
• Public, commercial and semi-private swimming pools and water parks;
• Day care centers and nursery schools;
• Public or private youth soccer, football, or baseball field;
• Crisis center or shelter;
• Skating park or rink;
• Public or private youth center;
• Movie theater;
• Bowling alley;
• Scouting facilities;
• Any public or private group, location, or activity that regularly provides athletic, civic , or cultural activities that includes as participants or recipients persons who are 17 years of age or younger, including, but not limited to, Frontier Days, National Night Out, vacation Bible schools, and other public events held primarily for the benefit of children;
• Offices for Child Protection Services.

For more details about the ordinance, click here to read the previous Breckenridge Texan article.

To see the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Sex Offender Registry for Breckenridge and Stephens County, click here. Note that this link is to a page for the entire 76424 zip code area and includes several registered sex offenders that live outside the city limits of Breckenridge.

Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: The Breckenridge City Commission approved Ordinance No. 19-02 at the monthly meeting on March 5. The new ordinance restricts where convicted sex offenders can live in Breckenridge. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)