On Monday, October 18, 2011, the City Council of Los Alamitos has officially voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance, prohibiting sex offenders from “child zones”. The ordinance holds the contingency that all registered sex offenders must gain written consent from the police department prior to entering the grounds of public city parks. Much like the County Ordinance established in April, any offender found guilty of this crime is punishable of a misdemeanor conviction and up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of up to $500. Councilman Troy Edgar claims, that while Los Alamitos only hold 5 registered sex offenders on Megan’s Law, the concern regards the potential threat of neighboring cities such as Long Beach where 700 registered offenders reside.

This newly passed ordinance comes to no surprise, as cities all over Orange County have continued to establish similar bands. Westminster, for example voted 4-0 to pass an ordinance modeled after the county ordinance in June, while in the same month Irvine passed a restriction on sex offenders who victimize minors. The pattern continues to spread county wide with La Habra’s passing of a similar ordinance in September. In the coming months, a wide variety of the county’s cities including Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills, and Costa Mesa will continue to contemplate the value of passing such ordinances.