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Linn County law enforcement performing countywide compliance checks on sex offenders
Officers are checking to ensure all 379 registered sex offenders in the county are living where they say they’re living
Jun. 11, 2024 6:14 pm, Updated: Jun. 12, 2024 7:35 am
CEDAR RAPIDS -- Law enforcement agencies in Linn County are working together this week to check in with every registered sex offender in the county and ensure compliance with sex offender registry requirements.
There are 379 registered offenders living in Linn County, and as of Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., law enforcement officers had checked in on all but 62 of them. Nine of the offenders were found to not be in compliance with registry requirements, and two had been arrested.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Grady Sheehy presented the compliance data in a news conference Tuesday afternoon, saying a non-compliant offender is someone who has not updated the registry with information about changes in address or other things that need to be reported, like employment and vehicle use.
“In Linn County, the agencies have actually done a really good job of keeping up with their offenders and wanting to get out and check on these offenders on a regular basis,” Sheehy said in the conference.
Law enforcement agencies attempt to check in with the offenders in their area on a regular basis, usually checking in with a portion of the offenders each month. The last time Linn County did a full-county check like this week’s was in September 2022, but representatives from various county agencies regularly meet to discuss their compliance efforts.
“While we know that we have numerous sex offenders living among us in Linn County, the sex offenders who are truly concerning to law enforcement and the public are those whose whereabouts are unknown. That’s why continuous compliance checks are important for the public’s safety,” Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said.
The U.S. Marshals Service for the Northern District of Iowa and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation participated in the checks, along with several Linn County agencies, including the Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha and Mount Vernon/Lisbon police departments, as well as the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers from each department paired up to go to each offender’s registry address to ensure that the individual still lived at that address. In Iowa, individuals on the registry have five days to report their new address after they move.
If an offender wasn’t at home when officers arrived, they left a note with a phone number the offender could call when they got home, so officers could stop by again. Deputy U.S. Marshal Nick Bonifazi said most offenders call immediately because they don’t want to be charged for not being in compliance.
If an offender doesn’t call and can’t be found at the address after multiple days, they can be considered non-compliant and criminally charged. Bonifazi said the law enforcement agencies have been working closely with the Linn County Attorney’s Office to obtain arrest for anyone who is found to not be compliant.
About half of the officers from the participating agencies have spent the last few days going down the registry list and visiting addresses, while the other half have been working on enforcement, or tracking down those offenders who are not in compliance.
The U.S. Marshals Service paid for the overtime costs and any other costs that were needed for the compliance operation, for all the participating agencies.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
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