Florida was one of the earliest, operating its site since 1997. Kentucky's is the most recent, opening its site this month. The Kentucky Offender Online Lookup site will soon carry the records of 22,500 inmates and parolees going back to 1978. State officials say the information is public record and can contribute to public safety. It gives the public, the press, law enforcement agencies and inmate relatives as well as victims immediate access to inmate information,'' said C.J. Drake, spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
Statistics suggest the listings are popular.
Florida's inmate and parolee sites recorded more than 2.2 million hits this month, Drake said. Proponents say the sites allow citizens to check whether any parolees live in their neighborhood or when a convicted neighbor is leaving prison. And employers can check if a prospective hire is on parole. You probably catch some'' dangerous offenders ''but you also do a lot of damage to people who are legitimately trying to make a new start and improve themselves,'' said Larry Spalding, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union office in Tallahassee, Fla. ''When you've got the information on the Web, it's very difficult to get or keep a job,'' he added. Spalding said his office considered fighting Florida's Web site but decided against it because that state's open records law is so strong.