The General Assembly has passed a second version of a measure designed to fix a hole in Pennsylvania’s sex offender law.
The issue dates back to a state Supreme Court ruling last year.
Justices ruled the state couldn’t impose punishments on offenders whose crimes had happened before those penalties were enacted.
That had a potential side-effect of knocking more than 10 thousand offenders off the registry, according to state police.
Soon after, GOP Representative Ron Marsico, of Dauphin County, introduced a bill to make sure offenders whose original sentences hadn’t expired stayed on the registry.
But, feeling it wouldn’t take effect soon enough, lawmakers ultimately shoehorned that language into a separate probation bill.
It passed earlier this year.
The new measures is, functionally, the final version and includes a few minor drafting changes.
Governor Tom plans to sign it.
