New York's Court of Appeals ruled that localities can no longer enact their own restrictions in determining where sex offenders can live.

New York's highest court said only the state law can determine where sex offenders can reside and not the more than 100 municipal ordinances that set boundaries between areas where children are likely to gather and sex offenders.

Like Us on Facebook

The Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that New York's regulations are comprehensive and detailed, prohibiting localities from enacting their own laws against sex offenders.

New York, the court said, has a comprehensive and detailed regulation for identifying, restricting and monitoring registered sex offenders.

"A local government's police power is not absolute. It has to yield to the state on matters like this where they're inconsistent," Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. wrote.

Judges Susan Read, Jenny Rivera, Sheila Abdus-Salaam and Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman agreed with Pigott when he wrote:

"Local Law 4 and similar laws are easily passed and, understandably, receive local support, but, as the state has acknowledged, communities in recent years have taken to shifting the burden of sex offender housing to neighboring communities, thereby frustrating the state's policy that each community bear the burden."

About 109 cities, towns and villages and 21 counties statewide had similar laws, said the New York Civil Liberties Bureau in a court brief in December.

The New York Court of Appeals rule on residency restrictions for sex offenders was released by the judges following a case that involved Nassau County's Local Law 4.

Enacted in 2006, the Local Law 4 prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school.

The prohibition was put in limelight when a convicted sex offender moved to an apartment within 500 feet of two schools after 22 months in prison.

Michael Diack, who was convicted in 2001 of possessing child pornography, was charged with violating local residency law. A trial court dismissed the charge, saying the local law was pre-empted by state law.

A midlevel court reinstated the complaint but the Court of Appels dismissed it again on Tuesday.

TagsSex Offenders, Child Sex Offenders, New York Sex Offenders