U.S. Plans Sex Offender Web Registry

The Justice Department will launch a national sex offender registry website that will allow people to check state databases with a single search, Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales said Friday.

“With this technology, every citizen and law enforcement officer will be able to search the latest information for the identity and location of known sex offenders,” he said in prepared remarks at the National Press Club.

Gonzales and other Justice Department officials said that within 60 days they expected to have the site available for public use and searches, with at least 20 states participating in the registry.

They said they wanted by autumn to have online information from the 48 states that had public sex offender registries. It will be up to each state to decide whether to link to the new system.

“We will be working with the two remaining states to be sure that everyone gets on board with this important public notification system,” Gonzales said. The department released a copy of his remarks.

Under the Justice Department’s registry, an individual can enter a name, ZIP Code, county or other query to search for registered offenders. Department officials said a limited number of public and for-profit websites have been trying to offer the data from various states.

They said the new registry would promote public safety by using existing sex offender data, would minimize the time and cost required to create a new repository, and would allow state and local agencies to keep control over the data.

The officials said policy concerns over privacy issues and misuse of the data would be avoided because the states would keep control of the data, rather than creating a federal database.

They said the registry could not be used by employers to screen job applicants. That would violate FBI policy and would be inconsistent with the noncriminal justice background checks in the Interstate Crime Control and Privacy Compact.