Editorial: Targeting sex offenders

Thursday, May 25, 2006 | 7:16 a.m.

Nevada took a big step two years ago in addressing the need to warn the public about the presence of sex offenders. It established a Web site - www.nvsexoffenders.gov - that allows people to become aware of sex offenders who have been released from custody.

The 2005 Legislature improved the site by passing legislation requiring that the street on which a sex offender lives also be added to the information. Until this change, which is scheduled to be completed by July, an offender's ZIP code is all that can be learned. That is too vague to be of much value.

A further improvement would be to add all convicted sex offenders, not just those convicted of felonies, to the database. If the Legislature at a future session requires this addition, it would be in line with a national trend of getting tougher with this brand of criminal.

USA Today reported Wednesday that at least 14 states this year alone have passed tougher laws aimed at reducing sex crimes. Additionally, the paper reported, lawmakers in 10 other states have passed similarly tough bills that await final approval.

This trend began 10 years ago with Megan's Law passed by Congress, which requires released sex offenders to register with local police. We strongly support strengthening public-notification measures. Our support extends to the creation of a national sex offender registry, which could better track offenders when they move to different states.

The House and Senate have each approved bills that would create the registry. We hope they soon agree on one bill and that the registry is up and running before the year is out.