The
Sex Offender Registration & Tracking Unit has the responsibility to track,
locate, verify and record all 300 plus offenders who
live within Grant County. All this information is
provided to the State Patrol as well as entered into a
database called
OFFENDER WATCH which is a sex offender tracking
program used throughout the State of Washington and most
States within the union. The Offender Watch data base
can be accessed and any citizen can view published sex
offenders in or near their neighborhoods. Only level II
and level III sex offenders are published on this site.
Click the banner below to access Offender Watch.
Program Background:
In 2009 the Legislature passed Chapter 31 Laws of 2009,
codifying and requiring, when funded, that the
Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
establish the Sex Offender Notification and Registration
system (SONAR). The State funded the system that year
and continues to provide that funding. In 2008 the State
appropriated $5-million for fiscal year 2009 and
provided it to WASPC to be distributed to all counties
within the State. This funding was to be used for the
Registered Sex Offender Address and Residency
Verification Program. Again this funding was provided
for the year 2010 with a slight cut of 9.33% across the
board. RCW 9A.44.135 lays out the process and requires
the Chief Law Enforcement officer of the County locate
and verify the residency of a registered sex offender
within their jurisdiction.
These requirements are codified in RCW 36.28A and include
that address verifications are based on the following;
-
Level 1 offenders,
every 12 months;
-
Level 2 offenders,
every 6 months and
-
Level 3 offenders
every 3 months.
This also includes
kidnapping offenders if required to register.
Public Notifications of Sex Offender Residence
An informed public is a safer public.
The
Grant County Sheriff’s Office releases this information
pursuant to RCW 4.24.550, which authorizes law
enforcement agencies to inform the public of a sex
offender’s release when the release of information will
enhance public safety and protection. The Washington
State Legislature has determined that the extent of the
public disclosure of relevant and necessary information
shall be related to: (a) the level of risk posed by the
offender to the community; (b) the location where the
offender resides, intends to reside, or is regularly
found; and (c) the needs of the affected community
members for information to enhance their individual and
collective safety.
Sex offenders have always lived in our
communities and law enforcement has no legal authority
to direct where sex offenders may or may not live.
Unless court ordered restrictions exist, an offender is
Constitutionally free to live wherever he or she
chooses. However, the Community Protection Act of 1990
requires that those convicted of sex offenses or
kidnapping must register, with the primary legislative
intent, “to assist law enforcement agencies’ efforts to
protect their communities” by providing relevant and
necessary information.
Penalty for harassing, intimidating or
threatening sex offenders.
Abuse
of information provided through the sex offender
notification process, in order to intimidate, harass or
threaten registered offenders, will result in an
investigation and the filing of criminal charges against
the perpetrators. Such abuse could potentially end law
enforcement’s ability to conduct community
notifications. The only person who ‘wins,’ if community
notification is halted, is the registered sex offender,
as sexual offenders derive their power through secrecy.
