Suffolk bill requiring GPS on sex offenders signed

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said Thursday that he has signed legislation to require homeless sex offenders who receive housing vouchers from the county to wear GPS tracking devices.

Legislators last month approved the initiative, which they said would affect about a dozen offenders.

Since New York State earlier this year ordered the county to close its temporary housing for homeless sex offenders in Riverhead and Westhampton, the county has given them $90 per day to find their own housing.

Registered sex offenders are required to report a new address within 10 days of moving, but the homeless often don't stay in the same place for long enough to meet the registration requirement, officials said.

Lawmakers did not allocate funds to pay for the GPS devices or mandate how the system would work. So it's still not clear how the program will be funded.

Suffolk probation director John Desmond had argued that the county has no jurisdiction to monitor sex offenders who have completed their probation and parole.

Levy also approved legislation to hold public hearings to discuss increasing bus fares to finance Sunday bus service. He also signed bills to make the county's electronic database of defibrillators available to first responders.

And by neither signing nor vetoing it, Levy approved a bill to spend $175,000 on furniture for the new Fourth Precinct police station in Hauppauge. Levy had steadfastly opposed the purchase and said county officials would find surplus furniture in other buildings for the facility.