TallyIDAHOLegislative Tracker
H06832026 Regular Session

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding where a sex offender resides.

SEX OFFENDERS -- Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding where a sex offender resides.

IntroducedIn CommitteeFloor VoteEnacted

Committee: Judiciary & Rules

▶ Show statement of purpose

The purpose of this legislation is to clarify the definition of "residence" for purposes of sexual offender registration. The bill defines when an offender is considered to habitually live at a location, including objective time and frequency standards, and clarifies how residency applies to homeless offenders. These changes are intended to promote consistent enforcement, improve compliance, and enhance public safety by providing clearer guidance to offenders and law enforcement. This legislation also clarifies the exception allowing registered adult criminal sex offenders to reside within five hundred feet of a school or daycare when living in licensed or certified facilities providing incarceration, hospital, health, or convalescent care. The bill ensures consistent interpretation of the statute while maintaining existing public safety protections.

▶ Show fiscal note

This legislation will have no fiscal impact on the state general fund. Any administrative impacts will be absorbed within existing resources of the Idaho State Police and local law enforcement agencies.

▶ Show full bill text

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 683 BY JUDICIARY, RULES AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO SEX OFFENDERS; AMENDING SECTION 18-8303, IDAHO CODE, TO DE-2 FINE TERMS AND TO REVISE A DEFINITION; AMENDING SECTION 18-8329, IDAHO3 CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING WHERE A SEX OFFENDER RESIDES; AND4 DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.5

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:6

SECTION 1. That Section 18-8303, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby7 amended to read as follows:8 18-8303. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter:9 (1) "Aggravated offense" means any of the following crimes: 18-1506A10 (ritualized abuse of a child); 18-1508 (lewd conduct); 18-4003(d) (murder11 committed in the perpetration of rape); 18-4502 (first-degree kidnapping12 committed for the purpose of rape, committing any lewd and lascivious act13 upon any child under the age of sixteen years or for purposes of sexual grati-14 fication or arousal); 18-4503 (second-degree kidnapping where the victim is15 an unrelated minor child and the kidnapping is committed for the purpose of16 rape, committing any lewd and lascivious act upon any child under the age of17 sixteen years or for purposes of sexual gratification or arousal); 18-610118 (rape, but excluding section 18-6101(1) where the victim is at least twelve19 (12) years of age or the defendant is eighteen (18) years of age and section20 18-6101(2) where the victim is sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age21 and the defendant is no more than five (5) years older than the victim);22 18-6604 (forcible penetration by use of a foreign object); chapter 86, title23 18, (human trafficking); and any other offense set forth in section 18-8304,24 Idaho Code, if at the time of the commission of the offense the victim was25 below the age of thirteen (13) years or an offense that is substantially sim-26 ilar to any of the foregoing offenses under the laws of another jurisdiction27 or military court or the court of another country.28 (2) "Board" means the sexual offender management board described in29 section 18-8312, Idaho Code.30 (3) "Central registry" means the registry of convicted sexual offend-31 ers maintained by the Idaho state police pursuant to this chapter.32 (4) "Certified evaluator" means either a psychiatrist licensed by this33 state pursuant to chapter 18, title 54, Idaho Code, or a master's or doctoral34 level mental health professional licensed by this state pursuant to chap-35 ter 23, chapter 32, or chapter 34, title 54, Idaho Code. Such person shall36 have, by education, experience and training, expertise in the assessment and37 treatment of sexual offenders, and such person shall meet the qualifications38 and shall be approved by the board to perform psychosexual evaluations in39 this state, as described in section 18-8314, Idaho Code.40 (5) "Department" means the Idaho state police.41

2 (6) "Employed" means full-time or part-time employment exceeding ten1 (10) consecutive working days or for an aggregate period exceeding thirty2 (30) days in any calendar year, or any employment that involves counseling,3 coaching, teaching, supervising or working with minors in any way regardless4 of the period of employment, whether such employment is financially compen-5 sated, volunteered or performed for the purpose of any government or educa-6 tion benefit.7 (7) "Foreign conviction" means a conviction under the laws of Canada,8 Great Britain, Australia or New Zealand, or a conviction under the laws of9 any foreign country deemed by the U.S. department of state, in its country10 reports on human rights practices, to have been obtained with sufficient11 safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process.12 (8) "Habitually lives" means any place where a person lives, sleeps, or13 visits with any regularity, including where a homeless person is stationed14 during the day or sleeps at night, and any place where a person visits for15 longer than five (5) hours per visit more than five (5) times within a thirty16 (30) day period.17 (9) "Homeless" means having no fixed residence.18 (8) (10) "Incarceration" means committed to the custody of the Idaho de-19 partment of correction or department of juvenile corrections, but excluding20 cases where the court has retained jurisdiction.21 (9) (11) "Jurisdiction" means any of the following: a state, the Dis-22 trict of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa,23 the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, the federal24 government or a federally recognized Indian tribe.25 (10) (12) "Minor" means an individual who has not attained the age of26 eighteen (18) years.27 (11) (13) "Offender" means an individual convicted of an offense listed28 and described in section 18-8304, Idaho Code, or a substantially similar of-29 fense under the laws of another jurisdiction or military court or the court30 of another country deemed by the U.S. department of state, in its country re-31 ports on human rights practices, to have sufficient safeguards for fundamen-32 tal fairness and due process.33 (12) (14) "Offense" means a sexual offense listed in section 18-8304,34 Idaho Code.35 (13) (15) "Psychosexual evaluation" means an evaluation that specif-36 ically addresses sexual development, sexual deviancy, sexual history and37 risk of reoffense as part of a comprehensive evaluation of an offender.38 (14) (16) "Recidivist" means an individual convicted two (2) or more39 times of any offense requiring registration under this chapter.40 (15) (17) "Residence" means the offender's present place of abode41 location where an offender habitually lives.42 (16) (18) "Student" means a person who is enrolled on a full-time or43 part-time basis in any public or private educational institution, including44 any secondary school, trade or professional institution or institution of45 higher education.46 (17) (19) "Violent sexual predator" means a person who was designated as47 a violent sexual predator by the sexual offender management board where such48 designation has not been removed by judicial action or otherwise.49

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SECTION 2. That Section 18-8329, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby1 amended to read as follows:2 18-8329. ADULT CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDERS -- PROHIBITED ACCESS TO SCHOOL3 CHILDREN -- EXCEPTIONS. (1) If a person is currently registered or is re-4 quired to register under the sex offender registration act as provided in5 chapter 83, title 18, Idaho Code, it is a misdemeanor for such person to:6 (a) Be upon or to remain on the premises of any school building or school7 grounds in this state, upon the premises or grounds of any daycare, or8 upon other properties posted with a notice that they are used by a school9 or daycare, when the person has reason to believe children under the age10 of eighteen (18) years are present and are involved in a school or day-11 care activity, or when children are present within thirty (30) minutes12 before or after a scheduled school or daycare activity.13 (b) Knowingly loiter on a public way within five hundred (500) feet from14 the property line of school or daycare grounds in this state, includ-15 ing properties posted with a notice that they are used by a school or16 daycare, when children under the age of eighteen (18) years are present17 and are involved in a school or daycare activity, or when children are18 present within thirty (30) minutes before or after a scheduled school or19 daycare activity.20 (c) Be in any conveyance owned or leased by a school or daycare to trans-21 port students to or from school or daycare or a school- or daycare-re-22 lated activity when children under the age of eighteen (18) years are23 present in the conveyance.24 (d) Reside within five hundred (500) feet of the property on which a25 school or daycare is located, measured from the nearest point of the ex-26 terior wall of the offender's dwelling unit to the school's or daycare's27 property line, provided however, that this paragraph shall not apply28 if such person's residence was established prior to July 1, 2006, for29 a school, and prior to July 1, 2020, for a daycare in existence on that30 date. This paragraph shall not apply to such person whose residence is31 established prior to the establishment of a daycare within five hundred32 (500) feet of his dwelling unit. The provisions of this paragraph shall33 apply when the person resides at a residential or long-term care facil-34 ity.35 (e) For purposes of this chapter, "school" means any public or private36 school. "Daycare" means any licensed daycare as defined in chapter 11,37 title 39, Idaho Code.38 The posted notices required in this subsection shall be at least one hundred39 (100) square inches, shall make reference to section 18-8329, Idaho Code,40 shall include the term "registered sex offender" and shall be placed at all41 public entrances to the property.42 (2) The provisions of subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section shall43 not apply when the person:44 (a) Is a student in attendance at the school; or45 (b) Is exercising his right to vote in public elections; or46 (c) Is taking delivery of his mail through an official post office lo-47 cated on school grounds; or48

4 (d) Contacts the school district or daycare office annually and prior1 to his first visit of a school year and has obtained written permission2 from the district or daycare to be on the school or daycare grounds or3 upon other property posted with a notice that the property is used by4 a school or daycare. For the purposes of this section, "contacts the5 school district or daycare office" shall include mail, facsimile ma-6 chine, or by computer using the internet. The provisions of this sub-7 section are required for an individual who:8 (i) Is dropping off or picking up a child or children and the per-9 son is the child or children's parent or legal guardian; or10 (ii) Is attending an academic conference or other scheduled ex-11 tracurricular school event with school officials present when the12 offender is a parent or legal guardian of a child who is partic-13 ipating in the conference or extracurricular event. "Extracur-14 ricular" means any school-sponsored activity that is outside the15 regular curriculum, occurring during or outside regular school16 hours, including but not limited to academic, artistic, athletic17 or recreational activities; or18 (iii) Is temporarily on school or daycare grounds, during school19 hours, for the purpose of making a mail, food, or other delivery.20 (3) The provisions of subsection (1)(d) of this section shall not apply21 when the person:22 (a) Resides at a state-licensed or certified facility for incarcera-23 tion, health, or convalescent care or a hospital; or24 (b) Stays at a homeless shelter or resides at a recovery facility, if25 such shelter or facility has been approved for sex offenders by the26 county sheriff or municipal police chief.27 (4) Nothing in this section shall prevent a school district or daycare28 from adopting more stringent safety and security requirements for employees29 and nonemployees while they are in district or daycare facilities and/or on30 district or daycare properties. If adopting more stringent safety and se-31 curity requirements, the school district or daycare shall provide the re-32 quirements to any individual listed in subsection (2)(d)(i) through (iii) by33 mail, facsimile machine, or by computer using the internet.34

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby35 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after36 July 1, 2026.37

house Chamber· Feb 26, 2026

House Third Reading

✓ Passed
69 Yea
0 Nay
1 absentPassed by 69 votes
Republican
60 yea/0 nay
Democrat
9 yea/0 nay
Show all 69 voter names

ABSENT / NOT VOTING (1)

Returned Signed by the President; Ordered Transmitted to Governor