Sex offender Web site goes online

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 | 10:51 a.m.

Nevadans can now check a state Web site to see how many violent sex offenders live in their zip code, but more specific addresses may not be available until next year at the earliest.

State Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said he intends to sponsor a bill in next year's legislative session that would allow the release of more information, such as the offender's street and block number.

"Our sense is that you have a right to know if your neighbor is a Category 3 sex offender," the most dangerous type, Rawson said. "The whole idea is that by knowing you can take steps to protect your family."

The Web site has been accessible for the past few weeks but was formally unveiled to the public Tuesday.

By logging onto www.nvsexoffenders.gov, the database can be searched by by name, zip code, Social Security number and license plate number.

The site lists the ages of victims, the offenders' aliases, conviction information, home zip codes and employer zip codes, if applicable, of more than 1,800 of the state's most serious sex offenders. It also provides mug shots of some them.

About 30 percent, or 1,388, of those on the site are Tier 2 sex offenders, those convicted multiple times with a moderate risk of re-offending.

One percent, or 44, fall into the Tier 3 category, the most violent offenders who are regarded as likely to continue committing sex crimes.

Tier 1 offenders, those convicted of less serious, non-violent sex crimes, are not included on the site, nor are Tier 0 offenders, who have convictions for misdemeanor sex offenses.

State law doesn't allow the Nevada Department of Public Safety's criminal history repository, which created and maintains the site, to clearly distinguish between Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders.

That's the aspect of the law Rawson wants to change.

But Daryl Riersgard, manager of the repository, said he came up with a creative way for those in the know to identify the Tier 3 offenders on the Web site -- he included the neighborhood-specific four digits at the end of those offenders' zip codes, he said.

There is nothing on the Web site explaining this, however.

"I can only include what the state law says, and state law says I can use a zip code," he said. "I tried to be a team player and I decided that Tier 3s will have long, nine-digit zip codes."

The street and block numbers of Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County's Tier 3 offenders are supposed to be available on Metro's Web site, www.lvmpd.com, but that site is currently undergoing a redesign, so that information is temporarily unavailable.)

Local and state agencies have different restrictions as to what information can be released.

"Unfortunately the (state site) is by zip code and there are some big zip codes in Clark County," Sgt. Russ Shoemaker of Metro's sexual assault section. "But you're getting as much as the law will allow you to receive."

Nevadans should consider anyone on the state site to be dangerous, despite the categorization, Riersgard said. The site is updated in real time as more offenders are added to the state's sex offender database.

Nevada is the 34th state to pass legislation and put its sex offender database online, advocates for children and families say.

Nevada delayed posting the information on the Internet because of concerns about civil rights lawsuits, Donna Coleman, head of the Children's Advocacy Alliance said. But Nevada began working on plans to get the data online after the United States Supreme Court ruled in March 2003 states may maintain such sites.

The Jacob Wetterling Act in 1994 directed all states to create a central registry for convicted sex offenders and set standards to determine who is a sexually violent predator.

Megan's Law, passed by Congress in 1996, requires states to establish ways to release information about registered sex offenders to the public.

Before the Web site was created, information on sex offenders was available to Nevadans by phone. Nevada Department of Public Safety officials said complaints about that information not being available 24 hours a day and seven days a week prompted the move to make the information more accessible via the Internet, the way so many other states already had.

The Henderson-based Children's Advocacy Alliance donated $24,000 to the state to help pay for the Web site. The state also obtained a federal matching funds grant.

The next step for the repository is to link the state's sex offender Web site to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Crime Information Center database.

The link will allow law enforcement officials in other states to determine whether a person is a wanted sex offender in Nevada.

Nevada is the only state in the nation that doesn't have its sex offender registry linked into the FBI's crime database, authorities said.

The state hasn't done this already because of lack of funding, Rawson said.

"We know what we went through in the last session," he said. "There weren't enough resources to do it."

About $30,000 expected to be left over from the Web site funding will be used to establish the connection, Riesgard said.

Sex offenders tend to flock to states that have the least amount of restrictions and disclosure, a list that until now has included Nevada, Riersgard said.

"We're creating the image that Nevada is not a safe haven," he said. "Perhaps they'll move to other jurisdictions."