ST. PAUL, Minn. - A bill that would close gaps in GPS monitoring for released offenders won unanimous support in the Minn. Senate Thursday.
The measure, known as Colton's Law, is named for the late Colton Gleason of Greenfield, Minn. The 20-year-old Mankato State student died in September of 2012 a day after being punched in the head without provocation in an alley in St. Cloud.
The teenager who committed the crime, Jesse Smithers, had just been released from detention, and was supposed to be under house arrest at the time of the crime. But Smithers hadn't been fitted yet with his GPS tracking ankle cuff, so he was free to roam the city the night of the crime.
"If the monitor had been in place local law enforcement would've been alerted, perhaps even capturing the criminal before he had a chance to commit this crime," Sen. Dave Osmek, a Mound Republican, told his colleagues during his floor speech.
Osmek's bill is designed to create a seamless transition between incarceration and GPS tracking, so offenders don't get a vacation from their court-ordered supervision.
"If people are ordered to electronic surveillance as part of their parole, through intensive monitoring, she should have the electronic equipment on them," Osmek told KARE.
The author of the House version of the bill, Rep. Jerry Hertaus of Greenfield, said the legislation will move monitoring protocol beyond agency policies, and put some firm rules into law.
Rep. Hertaus said he worked on the language of the measure with several entities, including the Dept. of Corrections, the counties and the court system to fix the gap in the law that led to the senseless death of a young man.
"Getting it passed into law is the end goal," Rep. Hertaus said, "And I think we're doing quite a bit to honor Colton Gleason."
The House version of the bill has now been folded into an omnibus public safety bill, but it is expected to pass.
