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Assemblyman Cook’s Sex Offender Identification Bill Stymied in Assembly Transportation Committee

April 13, 2011

By Paul Cook's Office

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SACRAMENTO – A bill by Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) to require the worst sex offenders to carry state identification cards failed in the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday.  Assembly Bill 885 bill would require sex offenders convicted of crimes against children or convicted of sexually violent crimes to carry a state Driver’s License or Identification Card at all times.  Furthermore, it would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to include information on the metallic strips of the card identifying them as sex offenders.  Though the bill garnered significant bipartisan support, it fell two votes shy of passage.
AB 885 would help in the identification of high-risk sex offenders, which would assist law enforcement in keeping children safe.  Although information on sex offenders is available through the Megan’s Law database, it is often of little use in real-world situations.  It requires access to the internet and time to locate a specific individual in that database.  When a stranger abducts a child, it might be necessary for law enforcement to have immediate access to information that indicates whether someone is a sex offender.  Cook introduced AB 885 in partnership with More Kids, Inc, which was created by Moe Dubois and Rebecca Smith after the murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, Moe’s daughter, by a known sex offender.
Cook vowed to keep working on the issue, stating that this was not the end of the bill:
“I’m disappointed that the bill didn’t pass but I’m not deterred.  Requiring the worst sex offenders to carry ID would be of great help to law enforcement in the early hours of an abduction of a child.  We have a long way to go in keeping kids safe.”