Since 2007, sex offenders in Kansas have been required to register with the sheriff’s offices in the cities in which they intend to live.

The state’s database of sex offenders now includes around 5,000 registrants. Offenders, who are required to re-register every 90 days, are scattered throughout the state, with most concentrated in the state’s largest cities.

But at least one former sheriff says most law enforcement agencies are not routinely spot-checking to ensure that sexual offenders are actually living where they say they’re living.

The website of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation features a searchable database of sex offenders, complete with last-known addresses, mugshots, and the crimes for which they were convicted.

While the tool provides an effective means for citizens to determine if sex offenders are living in their neighborhoods, there is a drawback, according to Currie Myers, whose two-year tenure as Johnson County Sheriff ended in 2004.

“Basically, these people are on the honor system because law enforcement’s not doing anything to verify where they’re living,” he said, adding sarcastically, “I mean, we should believe these people, right?” 

Myers said the lack of oversight wasn’t a reflection of a lack of interest in the sexual registry system by law enforcement. Rather, it’s a lack of funds, especially in rural sheriff’s offices that have limited budgets and limited manpower.

But even in relatively affluent Johnson County, Myers, who said he is a strong proponent of Kansas’ Sexual Registry Act, claimed he was unable to secure a commitment from the Board of County Commissioners to fund a sexual predator unit that would have done spot checks of sexual offenders.

When he was able to divert deputies to conduct occasional spot checks, Myers said some police chiefs objected that he was invading their turf.

Now a private consultant, Myers, with partner Maria Holiday, has established an organization and website – the Missing Sexual Offender Center – designed to assist law enforcement in identifying the whereabouts of sex offenders who have slipped through the cracks.

The Missing Sexual Offender Center allows citizens anywhere in the country who are aware of sexual offenders living some place other than their registered address to notify the center, which in turn notifies the appropriate law enforcement agency.

“Right now we’re more of an information gatherer that shares tips with law enforcement agencies,” Myers said. “We’re not private investigators who go out and chase these people down.”

Myers said the organization also is interested in issuing grants to law enforcement agencies to allow them to pay overtime to officers who would be tasked with verifying the whereabouts of sex offenders. One such grant, to Independence, Mo., already has been made, he said.

Verifying the whereabouts of sex offenders is critical, Myers said, especially because most of those listed on the registry committed their sex crimes against children.

“These people are bad actors with a very high rate of recidivism,” he said.

In Kansas, among the five cities with the largest population of sexual offenders, the state’s largest city – Wichita – also home to 1,003 registered offenders. Kansas City has 562, while Topeka has 354. Overland Park and Olathe both have about 100 each.

The Week in Review