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New Sex Offender Law Effective
June 1st.
This new law provides the Sheriff's Department stronger
monitoring of convicted sex offenders in Harris County.
Major G. Sturgis
Patrol Division
On June 1, 1998, the Sheriff’s Department will begin verification of
individuals who have been convicted of a sexual offense. By law, all sexual offenders,
adult or juvenile, released on probation or parole, must register with the law enforcement
agency in whose jurisdiction they reside. It is our intent to ensure that the information
provided by the sexual offender is correct and to reinforce that:
we know who you are,
we know what you did,
- we know where you live.
We feel this attention will go a long way to prevent a
recurrence of their illegal sexual activity. This will protect the community in which the
sex offender lives.
After the initial verification visit, our deputies, from time to
time, will check by to ensure that nothing has changed with the released offender that
would necessitate further law enforcement action. The supervising agencies, Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles, Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections (for those
persons on probation) and Harris County Juvenile Probation will receive a copy of the
report generated by the deputy from the verification visit.
Individuals must register with law enforcement if they have been convicted of:
This law applies to all convicted of the above offenses after
September 1, 1970. The law requires a notice be placed in the newspaper for those
convicted after September 1, 1995.
The information published in the newspaper is as follows:
The person’s age and gender, a brief description of the
offense, and the municipality, street name and zip code for the offender.
The Texas Department of Public Safety maintains a statewide data
base on all sexual offenders in the state. The Sheriff’s Department maintains the
same information on those individuals who have registered with us. This is public
information for the most part, but is only available by written request. The information
we cannot release is:
A photograph, the person’s address, Texas driver’s license number,
social security number, and telephone number or any information that would identify the
victim.
The Sheriff’s Department notifies the appropriate schools, public and
private, when the victim of one of these persons is 16 years old or younger. We are able
to provide a picture, name, and address to the affected schools but not the Texas
driver’s license number, social security number, or telephone number.
As stated above, any inquiry, by telephone or asking in person will get general,
non-specific information. This is because the state has indicated these individuals have
some privacy rights. Our deputies on the street will not be able to tell you where these
individuals live, and please, don’t automatically assume that we are conducting a sex
offender verification when you see a patrol unit pull up to a house. These verifications
will be less than one percent of all the calls we make.
The general information on these individuals will be available through our
patrol district offices and storefronts.***
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