The Victoria City Council on Jan. 28 adopted an ordinance that bars people convicted of sex offenses involving minors from establishing temporary or permanent residence within 1,500 feet of specified places where children congregate.

The ordinance, introduced by Deputy Chief of Operations Clay Fetters of the Victoria Police Department, creates child safety zones around city parks, recreation centers, public and private schools, childcare facilities and other areas identified as places children gather. Fetters said the city currently has no ordinance that limits where registered sex offenders who are no longer on parole or probation can live.

"Once the offenders who are required to register are off parole or probation, there's nothing that prevents them from living across the street from the school or anywhere else that children congregate," Fetters said. He told council staff had identified roughly 100 registered offenders living within the proposed zones and that the department observed a 45% increase in registered offenders in the city from 2021 to 2024, with 92% of those registrations involving convictions with minors.

Fetters said those who currently live inside a proposed child safety zone would be grandfathered into their residence, but would have to comply with the ordinance if they move. He also told council staff plan to add public education resources on the police department website and establish an enforcement process if the ordinance is adopted.

Council members discussed other possible locations to include in the zones during debate, such as skating rinks or places of worship. City staff said they conducted a risk analysis and narrowed the list to facilities they consider "defendable and supportable" under existing legal precedent, and that some categories (for example, places of worship) raised potential constitutional issues they were not prepared to risk in this iteration.

"We tried to narrow it down to what we felt like we know will stand up," said a staff attorney during discussion, describing legal review and past court challenges in other jurisdictions.

Public comment included a request from resident Lisa Gertje, a sexual-assault advocate and survivor, who urged the council to set a 1,000-foot buffer from playgrounds, day cares and schools (she said in public comment she preferred 1,000 feet rather than the 500-foot distance she initially referenced). Councilmembers noted public comment and staff analysis informed their deliberations but did not change the proposed 1,500-foot distance on first reading.

After the public hearing, a council motion to adopt the ordinance passed; the minutes record only a verbal aye vote and no roll-call tally.

The ordinance language states the restricted areas and creates enforcement provisions; it also allows exceptions and establishes the grandfathering rule for residents who already live inside a proposed child safety zone. The city attorney and police department told council they reviewed municipal models from other Texas cities and legal rulings that have supported similar ordinances. The ordinance does not create a retroactive eviction provision for current residents.

Councilmembers and staff said the city will publish maps and explanatory materials if the ordinance takes effect and will work to educate landlords and the public on compliance steps.

The council approved the ordinance at the Jan. 28 meeting.