Advocates: Expand Nevada sex predator list

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has given added momentum to a plan making it easier for the public to find and track Nevada's worst sex offenders, state lawmakers were told Wednesday.

Advocates of the plan noted the high court last week upheld the constitutionality of two other states' Internet sex predator listings.

"The timing is good," Daryl Riersgard, who heads the state criminal history repository, told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The panel is considering SB218, which would pave the way for a statewide, searchable Nevada sex predator Internet listing.

The bill would allow for broad geographic searches and for the release of details including offenders' work place, school and home address. It also would eliminate any cost associated with searching the state's registry of sex offenders.

Under current law, the state Department of Public Safety releases criminal histories only if searchers know the sex offenders' names and specifics like address, eye color or Social Security numbers. While some local police agencies mainain web listings, there is no state web site.

Donna Coleman, head of Henderson-based Children's Advocacy Alliance, said that needs to change.

"We need to send a message that sex offenders can no longer hide out in Nevada," Coleman said.

Riersgard told lawmakers that the $50,000 startup cost would be covered by Coleman's group and a federal grant. No money would be needed from the state general fund, though it was unclear how much web site maintenance would cost.

Riersgard said the registry currently gets 2,500 phone calls about suspected sex offenders per year, and predicted that number would jump dramatically under the proposed bill.

"We are clearly at the back of the pack when it comes to providing this public safety service," Riersgard said.

The measure came from Sens. Ray Rawson and Barbara Cegavske, both Las Vegas Republicans. The panel took no action on it Wednesday.

Richard Siegel, president of the Nevada American Civil Liberties Union, said "there has always been some concern in this area of vigilante justice."

But he said privacy worries would be eased if -- as proposed in the bill -- a warning was posted on the web site against such actions.

The Internet registry would not release information on less serious sex offenders like "peeping toms" and streakers.

Last month, a nonprofit New York advocacy group issued a report finding that one-fourth of Nevada's 3,557 convicted sex offenders failed to comply with registration laws.

The group, Parents for Megan's Law, found Nevada had the fourth highest failure rate of the 32 states surveyed.

Offenders must register with local police once they're released from prison and whenever they move. They must also report annually to the state Department of Public Safety. Failure to do so is considered a felony.