Because people are intimidated by the prospect of visiting a police station, making the information accessible on the Internet, some contend, is a valuable public service. And where states are not offering this service, counties, cities and individuals are posting the information on their own sites. In California, which does not have an online registry, sex offender information is stored in a CD-ROM database at police stations. The public can look at it, but only for 15 minutes, and only after signing forms and handing over a driver's license. And in Washington State, where legislation to post a state sex offender registry on the Internet failed, several city police departments and sheriff's offices created their own registries on the Web.
States can offer the information through a toll-free phone number, fliers or the media.
But many are hurrying online to meet the requirements of Megan's Law, which mandates that states must release relevant information about child molesters and violent sex offenders to the public. States must have a plan for compliance with the law by September or risk losing 10 percent of their federal anti-crime funding. And there are major differences between the states that do publish registries online. Some state sites, such as Alaska's, are searchable by zip code or city, while others, such as Texas, are more restrictive and require one to search for a specific offender's name. And the recent launch of the national sex offender registry is not likely to bring the states into alignment, as it is accessible only to law enforcement.