Morgan County Compliance Sweep: Sex Offenders Now Share Cost of Tracking

Note the comment "The new law took effect in July, and registrants may not know about it." It is common for states to not notify registrants and then some get caught up in some violation.

8-10-2011 Alabama:

MORGAN COUNTY, AL— Federal teams joined local officers and sheriff's deputies on Monday for a widespread sweep to track down sex offenders in Morgan County.

It was to make sure they are abiding by new stricter registration laws. The new laws now require offenders to share the cost of tracking them.

On Monday morning, 10 teams of agents, officers, and deputies armed themselves with detailed case files to track down 180 registered sex offenders, considered the highest risk to the public.

Morgan County Sheriff Ana Franklin describes what they were after.

"A very, very good baseline on where they are, what they're doing and they they're reporting as they're supposed to," she said.

Franklin says new registration laws took effect in July and some offenders may not be aware of them. So, law enforcement went out to inform offenders of the changes.

"Part of the changes in this new legislation puts a lot of the burden on the offender themselves to understand his responsibilities to the community himself to know this law and to stay within compliance," said Lt. Pouncey Robertson of Decatur Police.

Offenders are now required to register four times a year with their local authorities and each time, pay $10.00 toward the costs of tracking all offenders.

The teams didn't stop at just seeing an offender. They demanded to see evidence of offenders living where they claimed and gathered any extra information about the offender that they could.

And since there are more than 400 registered sex offenders living in Morgan County, this day's sweep was just the beginning of more aggressive compliance checks to come.

The new law also requires youthful offenders to be treated as adults in terms of registering and informing the public of their status. Offenders who make changes to their living arrangements have three business days to report those changes or risk being charged with a felony for failing to do so. ..Source.. by Beth Jett WHNT NEWS 19 Anchor/Reporter