§560.2. Louisiana Sex Offender Assessment Panel

            A. The Louisiana Sex Offender Assessment Panel is hereby created within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections may create not more than three sex offender assessment panels for purposes of implementing the provisions of this Chapter.

            B. Each panel shall consist of three members. The secretary shall select the makeup of the panel based upon the feasibility, practicability, and effectiveness of each panel as determined by the secretary and established by rules adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act and in accordance with the following provisions:

            (1) One member shall be either a psychologist licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists or a medical psychologist licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners who has been engaged in the practice of clinical or counseling psychology for not less than three consecutive years who is employed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the Louisiana Department of Health or a physician in the employ of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the Louisiana Department of Health or under contract to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections whose credentials and experience are compatible with the evaluation of the potential threat to public safety that may be posed by a sexually violent predator or a child sexual predator. If the psychologist or physician is an employee of the Louisiana Department of Health, the secretary of both departments shall consult and jointly select the member.

            (2) One member shall be the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or his designee who shall be chairman.

            (3) One member shall be the warden, or in his absence the deputy warden, of the institution where the offender is incarcerated, or a probation or parole officer with a minimum of ten years experience, or a retired law enforcement officer with at least five years of experience in investigating sex offenses.

            C. A majority of the members of each panel shall constitute a quorum. All official actions of the panel shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the panel.

            D. Each panel shall meet at least once quarterly and upon the call of each chairman or upon the request of any two members.

            E. The panels shall review, notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 15:574.12, presentence reports, prison records, medical and psychological records, information and data gathered by the staffs of the Board of Pardons and the committee on parole, information provided by the convicted offender, the district attorney, and the assistant district attorney, and any other information obtained by the board and the committee or the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

            F. The panel shall have the duty to evaluate every sex offender and child predator who is required to register pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 15:542 and who is to be released from the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections on an order of the committee on parole or the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of adult services, or upon expiration of his sentence to determine if he is a sexually violent predator or a child sexual predator in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 15:560.1.

            G. The panel shall meet and evaluate each sex offender at least six months prior to the release date of the offender.

            H. The panel shall conduct its review and, if a determination is made that the offender may be a sexually violent predator or a child sexual predator, the panel shall forward the recommendation to the sentencing court. Such recommendation shall include the factual basis upon which the recommendation is made and shall include a copy of all information available to the panel pursuant to Subsection E of this Section.

            I. Upon receiving a recommendation from the panel, the court, on its own motion, shall schedule a hearing to review the recommendation that an offender is a sexually violent predator or a child sexual predator. Notice of the hearing shall be served on the offender where he is located, his attorney of record, the office of the district attorney who prosecuted the offender for the underlying offense, and the victim of the underlying offense provided that the victim is registered pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 46:1841 et seq. The notice shall inform the offender that he has the right to be present at the hearing, that he has the right to present evidence, that he has a right to counsel, and that if indigent, an attorney will be appointed to represent him. If, after a contradictory hearing, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence, that the offender is a sexually violent predator or a child sexual predator, the offender shall be ordered to comply with the provisions of R.S. 15:560.3 et seq.

            J. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall forward all recommendations of offenders who have been determined to be a sexually violent predator or a child sexual predator prior to August 15, 2009, to the sentencing court for a judicial determination that the offender is a sexually violent predator or child sexual predator in accordance with the provisions of this Section.

            Acts 2006, No. 186, §2, eff. June 2, 2006; Acts 2007, No. 126, §1; Acts 2009, No. 205, §1; Acts 2009, No. 251, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; Acts 2012, No. 714, §8; Acts 2021, No. 238, §2.