The Griffon News

By Carol Nichols
COLUMBIA, Mo.. - Gov. Matt Blunt signed a bill into law on Oct. 23, mandating a more extensive online publication of personal information about sex offenders.

According to the Missouri Sex Offender Registry Web site, the new registry was designed in accordance with state regulations to protect the public from possible future offenses and to identify those who have a history of sexual misconduct.

One thing the registry now offers is a listing of home and work addresses of offenders.

Missouri’s updated sex offender registry will also offer aliases, an updated photo and a description of their offenses, including victim, age and entered plea.

“A parent could type in the specific address of a park where they like to take their children to play or even their home address and see any offender within a 1,000-foot radius,” said Blunt’s spokeswoman Jessica Robinson.

Though the registry is available to the public, institutions don’t necessarily check for prior offenders. University of Missouri does not restrict those with felony records from attending as students.

“The conviction of a crime does not bar a student from the opportunity to receive a quality education here at Mizzou,” MU spokesman Christian Basi said. “If a person convicted of a felony has served their time in either the federal or state system and meets the requirements for MU, then there is no reason they should not attend.”

Those wishing to attend MU as students undergo no background check for previous offenses, Basi said.

One MU student is registered as a sex offender in Boone County. This student was convicted in 2001 of indecent liberties with one or more females under the age of 18 in Kansas.

The student said that he was not aware of the changes to the registry and had no comment.

Though prospective students do not undergo background checks, the checks are performed on new staff and faculty, according to the criminal background check procedures from the MU extension human resource center.

The offense is taken into consideration based on the nature of the crime.

MU extension deals with hiring many professors, including international professors.

The Recruitment and Selection Guidelines and Procedures released by the Vice Provost’s office, which details the hiring process of MU, does not make a reference to criminal background checks.

The federal government has organized a national sex offender database online for the past 11 years, but most states have created their own registry sites on the Web organized by  county in order to easily update and access information.

Some sex offenders are not required to post personal information on the site because their crime exceeds the time period required for the registry.

“If someone was convicted of a crime 11 years or more ago, then they are exempt from registering on the site,” Robinson said.

The Sex Offender Registry can be accessed online on the Missouri State Highway Patrol Web site.