PHOENIX — A new Arizona board will make recommendations to state lawmakers for statewide standards for the treatment and supervision of sex offenders.
Lawmakers and prosecutors say they hope the Arizona Sex Offender Management Board can lead to standardized policies, which currently vary by county.
“What we have isn't working,” said Gina Godbehere, chief deputy in the Pinal County Attorney’s Office. “So this whole idea, this management board, is to come together, get experts from the victim field, from every field, and propose fixes so that the system will be working better for everybody.”
Godbehere, a former victim’s rights attorney, told ABC15 she’s worked with victims – including the parents of children who were victimized, who discovered sex offenders had prior convictions but were never placed on the state registry.
“And there were so many offenders, a large category, that were just not being monitored in the community, and that was a concern,” she said.
In some counties, she said, judges defer registration.
"And there was a reluctance among a lot of judges to impose registration, because there's not a mechanism to get off of it and they didn't want to oppose something that could be around for life,” she said.
Beth Goulden, who worked for 24 years in the Maricopa County’s probation department supervising sex offenders and spearheaded the creation of the new board, said the system often ignores victims. The panel’s proposed standards, she said, should take a victim-centered approach to supervision and treatment.
“It is time for us as a state to begin having the difficult but necessary conversations about how we respond, how we protect victims and how we prevent future harm,” she said.
Nearly 12,500 people are currently on the state’s sex-offender registry. Counties – and many Arizona cities – manage sex offenders in their own jurisdictions, meaning rules can differ depending on where an offender lives.
“We need to ensure that the standards are consistent across the state of Arizona, so if a sex offender is to transfer from one county to another, that they're also being appropriately monitored, that they're being counseled appropriately,” Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller said.
The Sex Offender Management Board will consist of 27 to 33 members appointed by various state agencies, the Arizona Supreme Court, the governor, the Legislature, a state prosecutor’s group and other experts.
Funding for the panel’s two staff members kicks in Sept. 26.
State Sen. Shawnna Bolick, who sponsored the 2024 legislation that created the panel, said the aim is to “bring smart people together who are subject matter experts” to suggest changes to the Legislature.
“So instead of us trying to figure out, willy-nilly, of what we should be doing to actually address these issues, they are going to be offering us legislative recommendations,” said Bolick, a Republican from Legislative District 2.
She said she hopes the panel can start making proposals in time for lawmakers to consider them during the next session, which begins in January.
“It would be great to even have a few recommendations from the first meeting,” she said. “Hopefully, they will have one or two meetings this year.”
