Utah joins registry of sex offenders

"We have a larger percentage of sex offenders in our system than any state in the nation," said corrections spokesman Jack Ford, noting that 25 percent of Utah prison inmates are sex offenders. Ford said two more staff members have been assigned to work on Utah's contributing site.

Currently, there are 6,500 individuals listed in Utah's registry, with 60 percent on probation, parole or in prison.

Ford said that law enforcement has had access to identify sex offenders nationwide for years. Now is the first time that the public will be able to have access to that information.

Justice Department officials explained that the Web site uses a common computer language: eXtensible Markup Language (XML), to link between existing state registries. The link allows data from different hardware and software systems to be recognized and displayed on the national site.

Hatch called the national registry a great beginning, but more needs to be done to ensure uniformity in the types of information states keep on sex offenders, as well as accuracy.

"This is a great first step to help parents to find information on sex offenders," Hatch said in a statement. "But it is difficult to maintain a national registry when nearly one-fifth of sex offenders have failed to register with their states as required."

Hatch pointed to a recent report from an Orem-based Web development company that claimed two-thirds of addresses on Utah's registry are incorrect.

State corrections officials dispute that claim, saying probation and parole agents keep close tabs on offenders' whereabouts. "We know without any shadow of a doubt that the information that we have on them is accurate," Ford said.

Hatch is sponsoring the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which would require sex offenders nationwide to register more often, in person, and update their information promptly when they move, change jobs or face significant jail time. Currently, Utah law makes it a class A misdemeanor for noncompliance, with a mandatory 90 days in jail.

Hatch's bill would also require states to provide uniform information that is more compatible with the national registry. Ford said Utah officials have struggled with the national format, which requires a listing by county. Utah's registry is sorted by city. Ford said they are working on solving that issue.

---

E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com