City Code amendment puts additional restrictions on sex offenders

As dictated by the new code, sex offenders will be prohibited from establishing residency within a 1,500-ft radius of premises where children commonly gather, referred to as “child safety zones” and which overlap Texas’ “drug free zones” that have existed since the 1990s. These include schools, day-care facilities, stadiums, parks, playgrounds, youth centers, swimming pools, arcades and other facilities primarily meant for children. Churches are not included.

Additionally, sex offenders will be forbidden from entering said premises or loitering around them. Ball also hopes that the amendment will increase community awareness of sex offenders in the area, allowing them to take appropriate measures.

“Restrictions on sex offenders aim to minimize (children’s) exposure to potential harm,” Ball said. “Areas with restrictions often have increased law enforcement presence and community awareness, which can facilitate quicker responses if any suspicious activity arises. The more difficult it is for offenders to access environments where children are present, the lower the likelihood of new incidents.”

There are 253 registered sex offenders currently living in Midland, more than the number of MPD officers. Under Texas’ classification system (something Ball says is unique in Texas compared to other states that don’t have such a system, such as Oklahoma), 79 are deemed “low risk” and are not likely to engage in criminal sexual conduct again, 121 are “moderate risk” and have a likelihood of re-offending, and 10 are “high risk” and will almost certainly re-offend. There are also 43 “non-reported” sex offenders, usually referring to federal cases and those who move into Texas from another state.

The 253 sex offenders, they have been arrested a combined total of 1,401 times throughout their lives, of which 1,227 are deemed “serious.” Of the arrests, 174 were the result of a failure to comply with sex offender restrictions, but the figure also includes miscellaneous offenses including DWI arrests (84) and narcotics arrests (185).

MPD tracks each of the sex offenders constantly, and Ball’s presentation showed a digital map that collects all of the offenders’ residences in a database and shows the staggering proportion of the population and land they cover. When taking the 253 sex offenders per the 143,000 Midlanders, that comes to roughly 1.77 sex offenders per 1,000 citizens, which is more than four times the average (0.39) of all the cities Ball researched.

“It’s riddled all over the city,” Ball described. “There isn’t anywhere north, west, east or south around the city limits that we don’t have them riddled within. This is our opportunity to align with other laws to protect children from not only violent gang members and drugs but also from sexual predators.”

Exceptions for residences will be granted to sex offenders in the cases of establishing residence before the amendment goes into effect, establishing residence prior to a child safety zone’s creation, if they are a minor or were at the time of the offense, or if they were ordered by a court to stay at a residence. Additionally, exceptions for entering premises will be granted if they are permitted access for the meeting of a government body or event, such as voting. In both cases, they can also apply for exceptions in other scenarios, which will be overseen directly by Snow. All of this is barring a re-offense, and any violation of the amendment will result in them being charged with a misdemeanor and a maximum fine of $500.

During the Midland City Council meeting, Councilman Jack Ladd raised concerns about adequately notifying the sex offenders about the amendment. As an example, he cited a former defense client of his (whom he goes to church with) that violated his sex offender restrictions by unknowingly creating a Snapchat account while browsing Facebook, as they are required by law to report any changes to their social media presence. Snow said that they will look into adding signage. Ladd and other council members, such as John Burkholder and Robin Poole, also expressed concern with Snow overseeing the exceptions directly, for which he said he “doesn’t have time to go through all of them”.

Some members of the public attending the City Council meeting expressed concern about how effective the ordinance would be in preventing certain cases. Resident Gayle Miller raised concerns on how the amendment would properly curtail certain cases, in particular domestic sexual abuse, and accused the ordinance of being used as a tool to move innocent people out of their homes. Miller says she, her husband and some others have also been emailing and maintaining contact with councilmembers to keep them more informed, which she is appreciative of.

“It has been a proven case that the (majority of) first-time offenders are usually happening inside the home to their children,” Miller said. “It is not the repeat offenders that you have to worry about, so all of this is not making anybody safer as far as the research is concerned. We have given you a lot of facts, data and research. We have given you our own emotional stories. This is not going to help anybody, and in fact is counterproductive. All you’re trying to do is get your percentages down, and that was told to me by one of y’all also. If that’s the only objective that you have in mind, then the mission statement (of the ordinance) is false.”

In response, Councilman Burkholder expressed sympathy for victims but said that the amendment would still be able to prevent instances from some victims that he actually talked to in preparation for reviewing the ordinance.

“I actually asked some victims to come up here and speak today, and it was too traumatizing for them,” he recalled. “These are personal friends, people who were neighbors, and when we’re talking about children, the innocence of a child can never be taken back. When I go in and talk about providing the safest city possible, I will go in and provide the safest city possible. And I know that, in a particular situation, an ordinance like this probably would have curtailed a couple of those incidents that we had.”

Following public comment, Councilwoman Amy Stretcher Burkes requested an expanded, more in-depth appeals process to better review all the cases than just having Snow do it. Under this new process, if Snow rejects a request or adds conditions to an approved request, the offender will have the option to appeal to a board consisting of City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and two councilmembers; by law, these appeals must be done in an open meeting.

“The objective to me is to protect children,” Burkes said. “Some could consider this overreaching because it casts a wide net. To be clear, I am not afraid of lawsuits, but we need to be mindful. The state already has a process where they must register. I absolutely agree with this ordinance (and) I appreciate the time that has gone into it.”

Midland City Council approved the ordinance by a unanimous vote, with the exception of Mayor Lori Blong, who was absent for the meeting. The amendment goes into effect on Feb. 1, 2026, but will undergo at least one more reading at a City Council meeting in January.