Colorado Begins Hunt for 321 Sex Offenders

Gov. Bill Owens issued an executive order Thursday to use a task force to track down and arrest about 300 sex offenders who have not registered under a month-old law.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has verified that 8,100 of the state’s 8,421 convicted sex offenders have registered with local authorities, agency spokesman Mike Igoe said.

Under the law that took effect July 1, sex offenders must register within 72 hours of their release. The names and photos of those who don’t or whose registration has not been confirmed will be posted on the Internet.

Also Thursday, state Atty. Gen. Ken Salazar said in a letter to law enforcement offices that sex offenders recently released by the Department of Corrections may have provided false information on their whereabouts.

Last month, the Department of Corrections began releasing 116 sex offenders whose imprisonment was ruled improper by the state Supreme Court.

The court ruled last year that Colorado legislators committed mistakes that nullified a law requiring mandatory parole for sex offenders convicted from 1993 to 1998. The court canceled parole terms for such offenders and ordered the release of anyone locked up for violating parole.

Owens said that of the 71 sex offenders released last week under the court order, a significant number have failed to register.

“This same court ruling threatens to intensify the problem in the months and years ahead,” he said in his order.

The task force Owens created will include corrections officials, judges, prosecutors and police.