Texas Adds Sex Offender Employment and School Information to Registry
Texas Adds Sex Offender Employment and School Information to Registry
The Texas Department of Public Safety has announced it is adding information about where sex offenders work and go to school to its online sex offender registry. The registry update will cost $1.2 million, which is being paid by a federal grant.
Texas’ sex offender registry already allows people to search for sex offenders by name or ZIP code, and provides neighborhood maps showing where sex offenders live as well as their photos, offense information, aliases and legal status.
The updated registry will list sex offenders’ occupational licenses, employer name and address, and school name and address if they are attending classes. It will also provide automatic notifications if a sex offender moves into a specified ZIP code or when a specific sex offender changes his or her registry information.
The expansion of the Texas sex offender registry was spurred by a 2007 Texas Attorney General’s opinion that found the public had a right to such information. Only Missouri, Maine and Alaska currently gather employment-related data for their registries. However, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act requires all states to collect employment information about sex offenders by June 2009, or face the loss of federal funding for law enforcement programs.
Source: Austin American-Statesman
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