Wichita ? Wichita plans to push legislation next year that allows managers to give child sex offenders written notices banning them from city parks and pools as well as other places that cater to children.

The idea is patterned after a bill Washington state lawmakers passed earlier this year. If the offenders return, they could be charged with criminal trespass against a child.

In Washington, that offense is a felony punishable by up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

But the proposal raises questions about whether it is a public safety measure or an unconstitutional second round of punishment, said Stephen McAllister, a constitutional law professor at Kansas University who also is counsel to the Kansas Legislature.

Courts have upheld laws requiring sex offenders’ names and photos to be posted on public Web sites, even for those convicted before the law on postings passed, McAllister said.

But courts have struck down laws such as one in Chicago that allowed police to disperse gang members to keep them from hanging out in public places.

“I don’t think it’s obviously unconstitutional by any means,” he said, adding the law is clearly a public safety effort. But neither is it an open-and-shut case in the government’s favor, he said.

New sex offender restrictions are among several priorities on Wichita’s legislative agenda approved last week by the council. At least six other items were given higher priority.

“The bottom-line purpose is to be proactive in protecting children in areas of play,” said Doug Vance, executive director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Assn.

But Vance said his group did not know of any specific cases in which convicted child sex offenders had committed another crime in a park.