State highway patrol announces online sex offender registry

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

The superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Col. Roger D. Stottlemyre, announced Missouri's Sex Offender Registry will be accessible by the public via the Internet beginning Tuesday, May 18.

Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn Ewing III said he was glad to see the list put up on the Web site. "The sex offenders list has always been available by asking for one at the sheriff's office but this makes it much easier, I'm all for it."

Nevada Police Chief Christine Keim said posting the list on the Internet made for a safer community. "People can get access through a public computer if they don't have their own. I think it's important for people who want to check out someone driving their children's school bus or moving in next to them," Keim said. "The right to know is the public's protection."

Keim said she knew that it was a burden for those required to register but since many commit multiple offenses it was different for them. "I sympathize somewhat with the sex offender but they're not like someone who makes one mistake and never has another problem. They are often repeat offenders and a danger to those around them. Some are rehabilitated but the majority are not."

Offenders moving into the county without registering are a constant, if small, problem and when they are discovered they are prosecuted. "We file charges periodically, two or three a year," Ewing said. "There are always a few that don't want to wear that scarlet letter but the purpose of the law was to protect citizens, not offenders."

Ewing said he believed in protecting a person's civil rights but the nature of a sexual crime made it important to protect the rights of others in the community. "I'm a civil libertarian, I think it's important to protect a person's rights," Ewing said. "However, victims have rights also and this helps protect them."

The Sex Offender Registry will be located on the Patrol's Criminal Records and Identification Division Web page. Offenders required to register in the county in which they reside, but whose offenses are not considered sexual in nature, will be excluded from the Web page. The complete list of offenders who are required to register with the sheriff are still available with each county's sheriff's department.

The patrol said it expected a vast number of people to be interested in viewing the sex offenders list at first and that may cause a delay in accessing the Sex Offender Registry. True to predictions, on Wednesday the patrol's computer system was so overloaded with prospective users that many people could not search the online list.

Once the kinks are worked out the page will have additional capabilities like search mapping and photographs but that may be some time coming. "Once appropriated funds are available, the patrol will work diligently to create and implement a sex offender Web page that fulfills statutory expectations," Stottlemyre said.

To view the list go to www.mshp.dps.mo.gov and select the Sex Offender Registry tab from the homepage banner. The list will provide a view of the registered sex offenders by county, zip code, or name.