Background.

In 2005, Jessica Lunsford was murdered in Florida.  A registered sex
offender later confessed to the crime; he's scheduled to go on trial
in Florida this month.

In response to this tragedy, the Florida legislature passed a set of
laws known informally as "Jessica's Law."  (The popular name of the
act in Florida is "The Jessica Lunsford Act.")  These laws increased
penalties for sex-related crimes, tightened registration requirements
for sex offenders, and mandated the sharing of criminal background
information among Florida law enforcement agencies (among other
provisions).

Question.

I'm interested in whether Jessica's Law--or legislation similar to
Jessica's law--has been enacted in Arizona.  If so, I'd like to see
the full text of the act, either in the form of the bill that was
enacted, or as a set of references to the Arizona statutes.

I'd be happy to clarify this request or to provide more information.

Thank you very much!

Arizona is among the states which have toughened their laws in an
effort to crack down on sexual offenders who prey on children.

"Jessica's Law is named after Jessica Lunsford, who was abducted from
her Florida home and sexually assaulted before being murdered. Several
states, including Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona, have
passed Jessica's Law or it's equivalent."

Team Amber Alert
http://www.teamamberalert.net/news/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1085

"Jessica's laws also have been enacted in Florida, Louisiana and
Arizona with similar legislation having passed this year in Arkansas,
Oregon and Virginia. Lunsford continues to work with lawmakers in
other states to craft bills."

Zwire: The Johnson County Sun
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16687332&BRD=1459&PAG=461&dept_id=155725&rfi=6

The amended law, which was signed into effect by Governor Janet
Napolitano on May 24, 2006, is lengthy and detailed. Here is a brief
excerpt (the full text may be read by clicking the link below the
excerpt):

"Sec. 2. Section 13-604.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

 13-604.01. Dangerous crimes against children; sentences; definitions

A. A person who is at least eighteen years of age and who stands
convicted of a dangerous crime against children in the first degree
involving sexual assault of a minor who is twelve years of age or
younger or sexual conduct with a minor who is twelve years of age or
younger shall be sentenced to life imprisonment and is not eligible
for suspension of sentence, probation, pardon or release from
confinement on any basis except as specifically authorized by section
31-233, subsection A or B until the person has served thirty-five
years or the sentence is commuted..."

Arizona State Legislature
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/47leg/2R/laws/0295.htm

I hope this is precisely what you need. If anything is unclear or
incomplete, or if a link does not function, please request
clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 14 Jul 2006 15:29 PDT

Bill O'Reilly's website has a map of the US which shows the states
which have passed Jessica's Law or equivalent legislation (indicated
on the map by a star). The map is also color-coded to indicate each
state's progress (or lack of it) regarding such laws:

Bill O'Reilly: Jessica's Law
http://www.billoreilly.com/outragefunnels

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Request for Answer Clarification by celina02446-ga on 14 Jul 2006 17:31 PDT

Thank you so much.  This looks great.

Do you happen to have a source available that shows that the
legislation based on senate bill 1160 is Arizona's version of
Jessica's law?  Or, put another way, how did you know that this was
it?

Thank you again--you've been a great help.

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 14 Jul 2006 17:46 PDT

The Arizona law is not officially called "Jessica's Law," and does not
mention Jessica Lunsford by name, but I found numerous reference
sources which said that Arizona was one of the states which had passed
legislation of this general type (see the first two links, above). I
then searched the Arizona State Legislature's site until I found
recent legislation which specifically deals with offenders who commit
sexual offenses against children.

~pinkfreud

The answer was exactly what I needed, and the researcher was very
helpful in response to my request for clarification.

Thank you very much for the five stars and the nice tip!

~pinkfreud