Jan 16, 2007 - 04:02:45 CST
Law enforcement officers are backing a proposal to spend $1 million on a network of computerized kiosks for sex offenders to use when they register their names and addresses with local authorities.The Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on the legislation Monday, recommended that it be approved. The bill will now be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which will scrutinize its price tag.
"We do have (sex offenders) who do want to cooperate," said the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Sen. David Nething, R-Jamestown. "They have to register, and hopefully this will stimulate that cooperation."
The kiosks probably would be in law enforcement centers and police stations in North Dakota's 10 largest cities, Nething said.
Fargo Police Capt. Tod Dahle and Cass County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Majerus said the system would make sex offenders themselves more responsible for making sure their information was kept up to date.
"It makes them come to us, rather than us always having to go to them," Majerus said.
Nething said the kiosks would save officers time in checking on sex offenders and taking down registration information.
"It will certainly cut down on (law officers') time as far as having to go out and search for these people, when many of them, hopefully, will come in," Nething said. "If we cut down on their time, let them work on other things, I think we're money ahead."
-AssociatedPress
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