MEETING ON SEXUAL OFFENDERS.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Looking to get a jump on the anticipated approval of tighter laws governing sexual offenders when they get out of prison, a public meeting will be held Tuesday to gather information about where potential ``predator-free zones'' could be established in the Antelope Valley.

The Antelope Valley Crime Task Force will solicit public views on the issue at a meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lancaster City Hall, 44933 Fern Ave. The task force will be chaired by Lancaster City Councilmen Ron Smith and Jim Jeffra and Palmdale City Councilmen Steve Knight and Tom Lackey.

``It's the beginning stage of implementing a philosophy that will make our community safer,'' Lackey said. ``This is the beginning of the discussion.''

Smith said he had called for the meeting and sought to add Knight and Lackey to the task force.

``I felt the two cities should be working together on regional issues,'' Smith said. ``This is one of them.''

The so-called Jessica's Law, which appears as Proposition 83 on the Nov. 7 ballot, would allow cities to designate areas where convicted sex offenders are forbidden to live. The law itself would bar registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools or parks.

constitutional challenge.

``We'll take the public's input, give it to the city attorney to determine the constitutionality,'' Smith said. ``We'll look at how many circles we are making and how much area we are taking up.''

The proposed law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a 10-year-old Florida girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and slain in February 2005. Her body was found three weeks later in a grave about 150 yards from her home.

Investigators arrested a known sex offender, John Evander Couey, for the crime. Couey, who has a criminal record with at least two dozen arrests, is facing trial in early 2007.

Other provisions in the initiative include tougher sentencing guidelines for sex offenders, requirements that sex offenders convicted of felonies be monitored by Global Positioning System satellites, lengthened parole terms, and adding five years for someone using drugs on their victim in committing a sex offense.

The initiative is being sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Antelope Valley Republican husband-and-wife team of state Sen. George Runner and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner.

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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