Changes to the Sex Offender Registry in SD

7-2-2010 South Dakota:

Changes to the sex offender registry go into affect today.

They are state wide requirements, that each individual county now needs to adjust to and prepare for.

KDLT's Krystle Kacner tells us what changes are taking place, and what they could mean.

South Dakota already makes it easy to check any neighborhood for sex offenders .

"The biggest thing is being on top of and being aware of where sex offenders live, what they've been charged with, and just take appropriate caution if you feel that's necessary," said Lincoln County Sheriff Dennis Johnson.

Now, the state is taking it even further. Grouping offenders into three tiers depending on the severity of their offense, the first tier being the most serious.

"Obviously this tiered system is a very large change and time will tell on how successful it is because there are still certain requirements, certain sex offenses where people still have to register for life. And the other two tiers where a person would at least be eligible after a certain amount of time to request removal," said Johnson.

If they are eligible they have to go to court to petition to get off the sex offender list. However an attorney will not be appointed for them and all of those court fees will be up to them.

"Its not just somebody can just write a piece of paper and expect to be taken off of the sex offender registry, I think it's going to be given a lot of scrutiny," said Johnson.

Lincoln County Sheriff Dennis Johnson says this could give some that perhaps do not need to be on the registry an opportunity to get off it and he says he has come across such cases in his career.

Johnson also feels confident there will be many people trying to get off the list in the next few months. In fact he says he's gotten many questions about it already.

Another change that went into affect today: Sex offenders only have three business days now to register as opposed to five.

And officials say in South Dakota, the only days that are not considered business days are Sundays and some National Holidays. ..Source.. Krystle Kacner