District Attorney Joyce Dudley said Thursday that she is asking the state Supreme Court to block the release of a sexually violent predator to Santa Barbara County.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal on Wednesday rejected a motion to overturn a lower court’s decision allowing the release locally of Tibor Karsai, 58, as a transient.

Karsai was convicted in 1974 in Santa Barbara of forcible rape, and was paroled three years later to San Luis Obispo. Karsai was convicted six years later of forcible rape in Placer County and sentenced to 26 years in state prison.

He was then transferred to a state mental hospital, where he was designated as a sexually violent predator.

Karsai was to be released from custody through a program run by a company called Liberty Healthcare, which provides supervision for people released from prison.

On March 27, a Placer County Superior Court judge ruled that Karsai be released to Santa Barbara County as a transient on or before April 16. That action was delayed pending a ruling by the appeals court.

Without action by the Supreme Court, Dudley said Thursday, Tibor could be released as soon as Monday.

Dudley previously told Noozhawk that while she understands that people like Karsai have paid their debt to society, “it’s important that everybody pay attention to the rules.”

The heart of the matter has been where Karsai’s domicile was before being incarcerated.

Prosecutors objected to his placement in a Santa Maria home because it was within 2,000 feet of a school. Now, that home isn’t available, Dudley said, so Karsai would be released as a transient.

The District Attorney’s Office also has argued that San Luis Obispo was Karsai’s proper domicile because it was where he was living before being sentenced.

Dudley said she has been informed that two other apartments have opened up that are capable of taking Karsai — one in Placer County and one in Sacramento.

“If you are truly looking to rehabilitate somebody, don’t release them as a transient,” she said.

— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.