(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
DEPARTMENT. The Harrisburg Parks and Recreation Department.
OFFICIAL MEETING. A meeting that is required to be open to the public by the Open Meetings Law, G.S. Chapter 143, Article 33C.
PARK. All parks, playgrounds, recreation facilities, greenways, water areas, wildlife refuges, nature preserves or other recreation areas, including any adjacent public parking area as well as the driveway, entrance way or pedestrian walkway used by the public to access the park or recreation facility, developed or undeveloped, and structures thereon, owned, operated, leased or managed by the town.
RECREATION FACILITY. Any publicly owned, leased, operated or maintained property that is designated or used as a recreation facility by the town, including but not limited to the Harrisburg Library while it is located in the Harrisburg Park on Sims Parkway and including any adjacent public parking area as well as the driveway, entrance way or pedestrian walkway used by the public to access the recreation facility.
REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER. Any individual who is required to register or is registered with the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry (established under G.S. Chapter 14, Article 27A) or, the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry (maintained by the United States Department of Justice), or any other official state or federal registered sex offender listing maintained by either the United States Department of Justice or any of the several states. For purposes of determining if an individual is registered or is required to register with any one of the official registries, law enforcement officers may rely upon the official website of any state or federal registry of sex offenders and the descriptions published and available from such registry.
TOWN. Town of Harrisburg.
(B) Prohibition. No registered offender registry shall enter into or upon any park or recreation facility owned, leased, operated or maintained by the town except as permitted by division (C) of this section.
(C) Limited exceptions.
(1) Polling place. When a park or recreation facility is used as a polling place for an election, the registered sex offender may enter for the limited purpose of voting if he or she has right to vote and qualifies to do so at that polling place.
(2) Official meetings.
(a) A registered sex offender who has the right to be present at an official meeting shall have the limited privilege of entering on and into a park or recreation facility for such time as is necessary to attend that meeting or function, but loitering or lingering in any form shall be a violation of this section.
(b) The privilege shall only extend to those parts of the park and/or recreation facility that are being used for meetings of that kind and any registered sex offender found outside of those parts shall be punished as provided in division (G) below.
(3) Consistency with the Jessica Lunsford Act. After November 30, 2008, any action prohibited by this section that would also be a violation of G.S. § 14-208.18 (2008) shall no longer be considered a violation of this section. For example, after November 30, 2008:
(a) A registered sex offender who enters a park and/or recreation facility playground will no longer be in violation of this section because of the prohibition of the same conduct by G.S. § 14-208.18(a)(1) (2008);
(b) A registered sex offender who enters park and/or recreation facility property that is held open to the general public that at the time in question is being used for a youth birthday party may not be deemed in violation of this section because of the prohibition of the same conduct by G.S. § 14-208.18(a)(2) (2008); and
(c) A registered sex offender will not be in violation of this section for being on park and/or recreation facility property where minors have gathered for regularly scheduled recreational programs because of the prohibition of the same conduct by G.S. § 14-208.18(a)(3) (2008).
(D) Territorial scope. This section shall be effective within and upon all town parks and recreation facilities and shall regulate the use thereof by all persons.
(E) Enforcement.
(1) Enforcement. Duly sworn law enforcement officers with jurisdiction within the town parks and recreation facilities shall have the duty to enforce this section.
(2) Detaining a subject. A law enforcement officer may detain a person within a town park or recreation facility under this section for a reasonable amount of time to inquire about that person's status as a registered sex offender if the officer reasonably believes, or has probable cause to believe, that the person is a registered sex offender who is in violation of this section or has committed a crime for which the person, if convicted, could be required to register as a sex offender. Nothing in this section shall limit a law enforcement officer from running any background check that is currently permissible under the law.
(F) Construction of section. In the interpretation of this section:
(1) Any term in the singular shall include the plural;
(2) Any term in the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter;
(3) Any requirement or prohibition of any act shall, respectively, extend to and include the causing or procuring, directly or indirectly, of such act;
(4) No provision of this section shall make unlawful any act necessarily performed by any officer or employee of the town or the department in the line of duty or work as such, or by any person, his or her agents or employees, in the proper and necessary execution of the terms of any agreement of the city or the department;
(5) This section is in addition to and supplements state law.
(G) Penalty. Violation of division (B) of this section shall be a Class 3 Misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of up to $500 and or incarceration for a period of time as outlined in G.S. § 15A-1340.20 et seq. Each and every entrance into a park or recreation facility, regardless of the time period between such entries, shall constitute a separate offense under this section.
(H) Signage. Each park and recreation facility should be posted to the effect that registered sex offenders are prohibited so that such persons and the general public are made aware of this section. Notwithstanding this section concerning signage, it shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section that the park or recreation facility contained no signage.
(Ord. passed 11-10-08)