BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana is considering joining more than a dozen other states that allow the confinement of sex offenders beyond their prison sentences, by involuntarily placing them in mental health facilities for treatment.

The laws have proven popular, with supporters saying they help protect the public from violent sex offenders who may commit new crimes when they leave jail and give needed treatment to offenders who likely aren't getting it behind bars.

Critics say the laws are a backdoor way to keep sex offenders locked up longer, violate their constitutional rights and endanger others seeking psychiatric treatment in facilities where the sex offenders are confined.

In the most recently ended legislative session, lawmakers asked the state health department to study ways to set up a civil commitment system for Louisiana's violent sex offenders. A study panel will make recommendations to the Legislature within six months.

Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine supports the proposed law and pushed for the study, saying involuntarily mental health treatment for violent sex offenders could keep some from becoming repeat offenders.

"When they're in prison, they're not necessarily receiving any treatment. They serve their time and then they're released into society, but the underlying condition that caused them to offend doesn't go away," Levine said.

At least 16 states have similar laws, the first enacted in Wisconsin in 1989, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The laws tend to require a judge or jury to find someone either "sexually violent" or "sexually dangerous," terms that are defined in the laws.

Such a proposal in Louisiana is expected to get a warm reception from many lawmakers, who have toughened laws against sex offenders in recent years, and from Gov. Bobby Jindal, who repeatedly refers to sex offenders as "monsters." Last month, Jindal signed a new law that allows judges to order chemical castration of sex offenders, a bill that received overwhelming approval from the Legislature.

But some civil rights organizations, mental health providers and officials who represent crime victims say involuntary mental health treatment of violent sex offenders is the wrong way to deal with the problem of sex crimes.

In a policy statement, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors said the laws don't represent good policy.

The Virginia-based organization said the laws in many instances provide further punishment, rather than treatment, and can undermine states' abilities to give mental health care to people who want treatment by siphoning money to the housing and care of sex offenders.

"It's kind of a dangerous concept, and it's a much more straightforward one to have tough sentences on sex offenders,"

said Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a nonprofit victims' rights organization based in Sacramento, Calif.

Rushford said states should set long prison sentences for sex offenders, rather than constructing other "backup" ways to hold onto offenders leaving jail that make sex offenders serve additional sentences without trials.

Supporters of the involuntary confinement laws point to a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld Kansas' civil commitment law for violent sex offenders, enacted in 1994. The ruling encouraged other states to create similar statutes.

"While our parole system is a good one, we want all available tools to be at our disposal as we seek to avoid re-offense and protect our children and families," Louisiana Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said in a statement.

Levine said Louisiana's proposal, if approved by lawmakers next year, would target offenders deemed likely to commit another crime. Before they are released from prison, a panel of mental health experts and corrections officials would review their history and determine whether to ask a judge to force them into mental health treatment upon release.

Where they would be confined, how much it would cost and which sex offenders would be targeted are all the subject of the study, Levine said, though he added that the percentage of sex offenders likely to face further confinement would be small. He said he thinks the confinements should be indefinite in some cases.

"Every time I read about a rape or child molestation, and I see that the person is a repeat offender, it makes me think there's more we've got to be doing," Levine said. "Protecting society goes beyond locking up criminals. This is designed to make sure people get treatment."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)