OKLAHOMA CITY -
A new law is putting sex offenders out on the streets, according to an Oklahoma City ministry that provides housing and services to registered sex offenders.
Hand Up Ministries says a new law will force dozens of men to endure the summer heat by living in tents starting this weekend.
The ministry will no longer be able to operate the way it has for the past 16 years. There are about 200 sex offenders that call Hand Up Ministries home. By Sunday morning, 61 of the men will be homeless, living in tents spread throughout the ministry's property.
"It's a stupid law, and [a law designed] strictly for one purpose and that was to shut this ministry down," founder David Nichols said.
Nichols did not mince words Friday about the law that will be enforced beginning July 1. The law will limit the number of sex offenders who can live in the same dwelling. That means Nichols' 100 mobile homes that can hold three men each, will now only be allowed to hold one person. That's forcing the ministry to become a campground of sorts.
Seventy-four-year-old registered sex offender Arnold Holbrook is one of the 61 men who will be forced into a tent. He is hoping his sister will help him out.
"I'll do something," Holbrook explained. "I'll get a hose and turn it on."
Nichols says his ministry is the only of its kind in the state. He claims the law is a personal attack from his enemies.
"I've dealt with a lot of guys out of prison, and I've dealt with politicians," Nichols said. "I'll take the guys coming out of prison any day."
Supporters of the law say they do not want people who are likely to re-offend to be around others who are likely to re-offend. The ministry says it has lost about 100 residents in the past six months.
Nichols says about half of those men, who are now on the streets, will likely end up back in prison … costing taxpayers more money.
"I'm a taxpayer, I don't like it," Nichols said. "They're going to rob the taxpayers to where they [will not] have any money left."
Nichols says it will cost the state about $48,000 per sex offender if they return to prison.
There are about 200 sex offenders that call Hand Up Ministries home. By Sunday morning, 61 of the men will be homeless, living in tents spread throughout the ministry's property.
