Ex Offender Bracelets Start In 2025
Some in Alabama are expressing confusion over a new law that requires people convicted of child sex abuse to wear a global tracking device. Beginning Oct. 1, those that are convicted of a Class A felony against a child under 12 will be required to serve a minimum 20-year sentence and wear the GPS bracelet upon release, which will not be until 2025 at the earliest.
The new law does not apply to other child sex offenders and Class A offenders who are already serving time, which comes as a shock to some. Robin Kelley Gaston, director of the Rushton child care center in Birmingham, said she was under the impression that any offenders released from now forward would be forced to wear the bracelet.
“You cannot retroactively change a sentence, so the people who are incarcerated today, their sentences have been handed down and they are serving these sentences,” said Chris Bence, a representative of the Alabama Attorney General. “They cannot be required to wear that GPS tracking device,” he said.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Birmingham News (AL) (07/28/05) Vol. 118, No. 118, P. 1A; Crowder, Carla .