Jackley: Around 2 Dozen Have Petitioned SD Sex Offender Registry

10-28-2014 South Dakota:

South Dakota was one of the first states in the nation to develop a sex offender registry. After undergoing a major change in 2010, it has become a model for other states to follow.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said, "We work very hard to protect our children and to protect our communities."

Jackley says he's proud of the changes made to the sex offender registry. He says mostly because it's fair. It focuses more on serious offenders, rather than misdemeanor crimes such as indecent exposure.

"There are some offenses in South Dakota where the first or second time you do something that's sexually related even though it's not that serious, it might be a misdemeanor, but the third time that you do it, it becomes a felony," said Jackley.

Four years ago, state lawmakers came up with a three-tiered system that put sex offenders into three categories. The new system allowed those who committed misdemeanor offenses to be taken off the registry. Those who commit lesser offenses, in the second or third tier, have a chance to be removed from the registry if they petition in court.

Jackley said, "The more serious of those offenses, what we would typically refer to as the rapes or inappropriate sexual contacts of young children, those are on that registry for life."

Since then, only around two dozen people have petitioned to be removed from the registry. The decision is left up to a judge, but Jackley says it's rare when someone gets taken off the list.

"We had individual that had engaged in activity and was convicted way back and then ultimately married the individual that that activity was involved with and was a law abiding citizen," said Jackley.

Jackley says those who need to check the website can now be sure they're worrying about the dangerous offenders.

About 3,300 hundred people are currently on South Dakota's Sex Offender Registry. Jackley says they have nearly 99 percent compliance with the registry.

To give you an idea of how that number compares with other states: Iowa has around 6,000 people on their sex offender registry, Nebraska has around 5,000, and Wyoming only has around 2,000 people on its registry. ..Source.. by Jill Johnson