Sex offenders on notice

Any convicted sex offender living, working or going to school in Hamilton County must register with the sheriff’s department by midnight Tuesday or face a mandatory jail sentence under a new state law.

"We are in the 11th hour," District Attorney General Bill Cox said. "If you don’t comply, we will find you, arrest you, prosecute you, and jail you."

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation handed over the state’s sex offender registry to local authorities under the law that took effect Aug. 1, Mr. Cox said. Anyone convicted of a crime such as rape, sexual assault, sodomy or incest must be fingerprinted, photographed, provide personal information and pay a $60 registration fee, he said.

"The purpose of this is to know where these people are," Mr. Cox said. "It’s for the safety of our citizens."

Opponents of the new law said it goes too far and unbalances the justice system’s scale. If a person fails to sign up under the Sexual Offender Registration and Monitoring Act, he or she faces a felony charge.

"I think this is another example of a well-intentioned government program gone awry," said Joe Dumas, a computer science professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "It’s nice to know if the person next door is a sex offender, but it would also be nice to know if the person next door is a bank robber. Why should one particular offense be treated differently?"

Only 60 of the 319 known sex offenders in Hamilton County are registered through the Tennessee Department of Probation and Parole’s local office, according to Jimmy Clift, an investigator with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department. About 30 offenders have updated their files through other authorities, he said.

"Those who have come in realize this is serious stuff," he said. Mr. Clift said Memphis authorities had a similar roundup earlier this year that proved successful. Knoxville and Nashville authorities also are working to update files on sex offenders living and working in those areas, he said.

The TBI’s original system for tracking sex offenders was created in 1999 after a law was passed requiring the agency to start a publicly accessible list of such offenders, according to state Rep. Chris Newton, R-Benton. Violators registered through the mail and were solely responsible for updating their information if they moved or changed jobs, he said. "We knew we needed a tougher law," Rep. Newton said. "We realized our state had become a safe haven for the pedophile community."

Mr. Cox said the Volunteer State had an influx of sex offenders because "it was safer for them to break the law here." In Tennessee, there are 6,470 convicted sex offenders, and fewer than half are in the registry, records show. Mr. Cox said that sexual predators, "especially those who prey on children, don’t stop. Time and research have proven that."

Under the law, nonviolent sex offenders now must register annually, while violent offenders are supposed to check in with the sheriff’s department four times a year. The information collected will be forwarded to the TBI, the agency acting as a repository for tracking the offenders, Mr. Cox said.

Chief Steve Parks of the Chattanooga Police Department said this is the last chance for sex offenders in Hamilton County who do not comply with registration requirements to avoid jail. "A n officer will come looking for them with a felony warrant in hand," Chief Parks said. "They will go to their home or place of business or school. They will find them."

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E-mail Candice Combs at ccombs@timesfreepress.com HOW TO REGISTER To register in Hamilton County as a convicted sex offender, call (423) 209-8948 and make an appointment. Offenders must sign up in person at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department annex, 6233 Dayton Blvd.

Staff Photo by Lido Vizzutti Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox talks about a crackdown on sex offenders during a news conference at the Chattanooga Police Department’s Police Services Center on Friday. In back are, from left, Chattanooga Police Chief Steve Parks, Richard Brogan, Sheriff John Cupp, John Patterson and Assistant District Attorney Mary Sullivan Moore.

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