Rep. Crump introduces sex offender legislation
by Kathleen Stinson

NORTH VALLEY – State Rep. Sam Crump, R‑Anthem, last week introduced a bill that would  make it easier to track registered sex offenders who fail to report their changes of address.

“There are a half million registered sex offenders in the United States, 14,000 of whom are in Arizona,” Crump told The Desert Advocate. “Twenty‑five percent of these people are not living where they last registered.”

House Bill 2723 would authorize the state Department of Public Safety to contract with a software provider that compares the names of registered sex offenders with some 8,000 commercial data bases nationwide to identify their current addresses.

Crump said the system searches, for example, utility, cell phone and credit‑related information in order to retrieve current data to supply to law enforcement.

He noted a similar authorization was attached to a larger bill which failed in the last legislative session.

DPS spokesman Brian Wilcox said the agency does not comment on pending legislation until it is signed by the governor. However, he did say the department is looking at the software and what it does to see how it could help locate registered sex offenders who have absconded.

“We are interested in anything that can track sex offenders,” he added.

Convicted sex offenders are required to report their new addresses when they move. DPS attempts to verify this information once a year.

“Offender absconders are guilty of not complying with the law, a Class 4 felony,” Wilcox stated.

Florida is one of a number of states which subscribe to this type of software, Crump noted.

He pointed out it is particularly helpful to have current addresses of local registered sex offenders when an AMBER Alert is activated in an area. The software costs Florida about $200,000 a year, he said.

The Arizona bill, introduced Feb. 5, is currently in the Natural Resources and Public Safety Committee of the state House.

Rep. Crump, an attorney with offices in Anthem,  is serving his first term in the legislature.

Reach the reporter at kathleen@thedesertadvocate.com.