46-23-509. Psychosexual evaluations and sexual offender designations -- rulemaking authority. (1) The department shall adopt rules for the qualification of sexual offender evaluators who conduct psychosexual evaluations of sexual offenders and sexually violent predators and for determinations by sexual offender evaluators of the risk of a repeat offense and the threat that an offender poses to the public safety.

(2) Prior to sentencing of a person convicted of a sexual offense, the department or a sexual offender evaluator shall provide the court with a psychosexual evaluation report recommending one of the following levels of designation for the offender:

(a) level 1, the risk of a repeat sexual offense is low;

(b) level 2, the risk of a repeat sexual offense is moderate;

(c) level 3, the risk of a repeat sexual offense is high, there is a threat to public safety, and the sexual offender evaluator believes that the offender is a sexually violent predator.

(3) Upon sentencing the offender, the court shall:

(a) review the psychosexual evaluation report, any statement by a victim, and any statement by the offender;

(b) designate the offender as level 1, 2, or 3; and

(c) designate a level 3 offender as a sexually violent predator.

(4) An offender designated as a level 2 offender or given a level designation by another state, the federal government, or the department under subsection (6) that is determined by the court to be similar to level 2 may petition the sentencing court or the district court for the judicial district in which the offender resides to change the offender's designation if the offender has enrolled in and successfully completed the treatment phase of either the prison's sexual offender treatment program or of an equivalent program approved by the department. After considering the petition, the court may change the offender's risk level designation if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offender's risk of committing a repeat sexual offense has changed since the time sentence was imposed. The court shall impose one of the three risk levels specified in this section.

(5) If, at the time of sentencing, the sentencing judge did not apply a level designation to a sexual offender who is required to register under this part and who was sentenced prior to October 1, 1997, the department shall designate the offender as level 1, 2, or 3 when the offender is released from confinement.

(6) If an offense is covered by 46-23-502(9)(b), the offender registers under 46-23-504(1)(c), and the offender was given a risk level designation after conviction by another state or the federal government, the department of justice may give the offender the risk level designation assigned by the other state or the federal government. All offenders convicted in another state or by the federal government who are not currently under the supervision of the department or the youth court and were not given a risk level designation after conviction shall provide to the department of justice all prior risk assessments and psychosexual evaluations done to evaluate the offender's risk to reoffend. Any offender without a risk assessment or psychosexual evaluation shall, at the offender's expense, undergo a psychosexual evaluation with a sexual offender evaluator who is a member of the Montana sex offender treatment association or has comparable credentials acceptable to the department of labor and industry. The results of the psychosexual evaluation may be requested by the attorney general or a county attorney for purposes of petitioning a district court to assign a risk level designation.

(7) The lack of a fixed residence is a factor that may be considered by the sentencing court or by the department in determining the risk level to be assigned to an offender pursuant to this section.

(8) Upon obtaining information that indicates that a sexual offender who is required to register under this part does not have a level 1, 2, or 3 designation, the attorney general, the county attorney that prosecuted the offender and obtained a conviction for a sexual offense, or the county attorney for the county in which the offender resides may, at any time, petition the district court that sentenced the offender for a sexual offense or the district court for the judicial district in which the offender resides to designate the offender as level 1, 2, or 3. Upon the filing of the petition, the court may order a psychosexual evaluation report at the petitioner's expense. The court shall provide the offender with an opportunity for a hearing prior to designating the offender. The petitioner shall provide the offender with notice of the petition and notice of the hearing.

History: En. Sec. 12, Ch. 375, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 358, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 22, Sp. L. August 2002; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 313, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 24, Ch. 483, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 182, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 110, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 16, Ch. 275, L. 2017.