Abstract

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Enforcing Sex Offender Laws Using GIS
Track: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
Author(s): Robert Heckman, Keith Fournier

Since July 1997, Ohio statute has required adult sexual offenders to register with the sheriff of their county of residence after being released from jail or prison. Since January 2002, similar kinds of registration/notification requirements apply to juvenile sex offenders. In person notification is required with any change in the offender's residential status. State law has determined a specific distance that a convicted sex offender must live from a school parcel. With 172 schools and more than 600 offenders in Lucas County, this task of enforcing the law seemed daunting. As a result, the Lucas County Sheriff's department contacted the Lucas County Auditor's Office GIS staff to request their assistance. The requirements and processes to enforce the law were established, and a formal process was developed to provide the necessary information.

The presentation will focus on how the Lucas County sex offender project was developed and provide insights and lessons learned.

Robert Heckman
Lucas County Auditor's
Real Estate
1 government center
suite 770
Toledo, OH 43604
US
Phone: 419-213-4418
E-mail: rheckman@co.lucas.oh.us

Keith Fournier
Lucas County Auditor's
Lucas County Information Services
One Government Center
Toledo, OH 43604
US
Phone: 419-213-4875
E-mail: kfournier@co.lucas.oh.us