A bill to grant cities and counties more authority over transition homes for former inmates cleared the Senate Wednesday and was sent to Gov. Butch Otter, pleasing city officials and angering the operator of the Treasure Valley's fastest-growing string of transition homes.
Dennis Mansfield, executive director of New Hope Community Health, said if the bill becomes law it will face certain legal challenge.
Nampa Republican Sen. Curt McKenzie, who co-sponsored the bill in the Senate, said the goal is to give neighbors a chance to weigh in on proposed transition homes and to give cities and counties authority to enforce local zoning ordinances on group homes that house registered sex offenders or anyone on felony probation or parole.
WHAT'S THE ISSUE?
Transition homes for ex-inmates with drug or alcohol addictions are springing up in single-family neighborhoods throughout the Treasure Valley and beyond, alarming neighbors who fear for their families and property values. They complain to city and county officials who, in turn, are frustrated because their regulatory efforts are hamstrung by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined such homes could operate unimpeded by local zoning ordinances. The court reaasoned that the federal Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act trump local regulations by defining the group homes as single-family dwellings.
House Bill 465, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, would amend state land-use law to effectively eliminate that protection if the transition home's residents are deemed to represent "a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals." That exemption is found in federal law but not in the current state version, according to the bill's statement of impact.
The definition of threat includes anyone under the supervision of the Department of Correction. That's 90 to 95 percent of New Hope's clients, Mansfield said.
WHAT WOULD THIS MEAN FOR TRANSITION HOMES?
Local governments would not be required to allow transition homes in single-family neighborhoods unless none of the residents were on probation or parole.
"This is offensive and patently illegal, with a huge fiscal impact," said Mansfield, whose for-profit, faith-based business houses ex-inmates at the homes. Distinguishing between ex-inmates and others with addictions is tantamount to the "red-lining" that kept targeted groups out of neighborhoods in the 1960s, he said.
Increased regulation could ultimately mean fewer transition homes, which could force more inmates to stay in prison at state taxpayers' expense, Mansfield said. But, he said, "none of us - not New Hope or the other 37 providers - are going away."
WHAT WOULD THIS MEAN FOR CITIES?
Local officials want a say in where the homes can locate and how many people can live there, and this bill could provide that, Nampa Planning Director Norm Holm said Wednesday.
If Otter signs the bill into law, city officials could direct new transition homes to locate in areas less likely to upset neighbors, such as light industrial or commercial areas, Holm said. It's unclear how it would affect existing transition homes in residential neighborhoods, he said.
WHAT WILL THE GOVERNOR DO?
Otter was noncommittal Wednesday. He said he supports local control, but local governments should take care in how they handle transition homes. He said such homes are key to helping ease overcrowding in Idaho prisons.
"Continuing to build prisons is not a habit that I find to be a happy habit," Otter said.
Mansfield said the bill works against Otter's call for market-driven solutions. He hopes the governor will veto it.
WHAT DO PRISON OFFICIALS THINK?
The Department of Correction has not taken a position on the bill and was not consulted in its crafting, but limiting transition homes could slow progress on relieving overcrowding in Idaho's prison system, Director Brent Reinke said.
When prisoners are released, family support is vital to their transition back to the community, Reinke said. When prisoners don't have that support network, transition homes fill that gap.
"What research tells us is a stable place to live, good employment and community-based programs are three components for successful transition," he said.
Reporter Heath Druzin contributed to this story.
Kris Rodine: 377-6447.
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