Faulkner County, AR Does Not Give In to Demands for a Change in the Sex Offender Registry!
The sex offender registry is meant to help keep convicts with a history of sexual and predatory crimes away from the vulnerable factions of the society. However, one advocacy group from Arkansas is arguing that this need not be done by compromising the safety of the offender who is done serving time for his misdoings and his family who are in no way responsible for his infractions.
Currently, a search of the Arkansas sex offender registry brings back the complete address of the offender. Carla Swanson, a representative of the advocacy group, supported her argument by saying that nearly 900 registered sex offenders no longer live at the addresses listed against their names in the database.
Also, she said that by divulging the complete address, the system is putting the ex-convict and his family in harm’s way. Of the 24 sheriffs’ departments in the state, 17 did heed to a call from attorneys to only offer the block number instead of the complete address of the offenders in the registry. However, 7 did not budge from their stand on the matter.
Faulkner County Sheriff, Matt Rice was one of them as he believed that the people have a right to know where these offenders live. It was also stated that this information was being released with the sole intent of enhancing public safety. He added that he had never come across a case when a registered sex offender or anybody who cohabits with him/her was the victim of a crime after the offender’s address was accessed from the registry.