Question of the Month
September
2003
How
have states tried to improve community notification regarding the
whereabouts of sex offenders?
Over the past
seven years, states have implemented various laws and procedures to
improve public access to information about sex offenders. These
efforts were necessitated by the 1996 passage of Megan’s Law, which
is named for a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered
by a neighbor who was a twice-convicted sex offender. The federal law
requires states to provide the public with information on sexual
offenders, but it does not require active community notification by
law enforcement.
The creation of online registries for
sex offenders has become a popular community notification tool
utilized by states. According to the KlaasKids Foundation, every state
in the Midwest except South Dakota now has some kind of
state-sponsored Internet access for residents. In South Dakota, the
registry of sex offenders is only available to the public at the local
law enforcement level. Each state has its own guidelines
determining which types of sex crimes require an individual to
register his or her name with state and local law enforcement. A
determination of the sex offender’s risk level to the community also
often determines how proactive and extensive public notification will
be. Some child protection advocates believe states should do more. For
example, community notification sometimes only entails making a
registry of sex offenders available on the Internet or at a local
police station.
Marc Klaas of the KlaasKids Foundation
would like more states to follow the lead of Minnesota, which
he believes has one of the more unique, effective community
notification processes in the country. Law enforcement officials hold
public meetings in areas where a Level 3, or high-risk, offender
lives. This kind of interaction can help individuals better protect
themselves and their families, says Klass, adding that these
informational meetings also lessen the possibility that a sex offender
will be the target of an attack. Various other kinds of proactive
approaches have been utilized by other states. Some, for example, have
law enforcement officials go door to door to make residents aware of
the presence of a sex offender. In Ohio, all residents living
adjacent to a habitual sex offender or sexual predator are given
written notice. In addition, within a specified geographic
notification area, various law enforcement officials, education
officials and day care workers are notified. A listing of how each
U.S. state has implemented Megan’s Law can be found at www.klaaskids.org/pg-legmeg.htm.
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more information on this or any other public policy issue, please call
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