To find out if there's a sex offender in your city or neighborhood, you can get a free list of all registered sex offenders from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation by calling 701-328-5500. Information about sex offenders can be requested by city, county or statewide.

The attorney general's office also maintains a Web site of the "high risk" sex offenders and sex offenders who are required to be registered for the rest of their lives. This list can be searched by name, city or address at http://www.ndsexoffender.com.

Sex offenders who are required to remain registered for life must verify their addresses every 90 days. Most other sex offenders must verify their addresses every six months. If sex offenders fail to follow the registration requirements, which primarily requires them to notify law enforcement whenever they move, they face a class A misdemeanor with a minimum 90-day jail sentence. A second offense is a felony.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem established a committee to classify every registered sex offender. Using a modified version of the Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool, the committee classifies sex offenders as a low, moderate or high risk. Research at the prison indicates the tool is quite accurate.

The assessment analyzes many factors, including the number of offenses, age ranges of victims, use of drugs or alcohol, criminal history as an adolescent, willingness to commit another crime while on probation, treatment received and age.

Local law enforcement decides when the public should be notified about high-risk sex offenders and how they want to do so. In Bismarck, the public has been notified of a half dozen sex offenders through news releases - their photo and a brief description of their past is released to the media, always with the caution that the public should not harass or threaten the offender. Sometimes police notify the offenders' immediate neighbors or hold a community meeting.

Stenehjem said authorities have to be careful not to overdo public notifications, otherwise people won't take them seriously.