Vermont could face a loss of some federal law enforcement funding if it doesn’t make big changes to its sex offender registry.
Rules just issued by the U.S. Department of Justice to implement the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006 require Vermont to increase public access to its on-line registry. That access now is limited mainly to law enforcement and for use in criminal background checks.
Vermont also needs to reconfigure the way it measures the risk posed by sex offenders who are about to be released into the community.
And it must shift to a system of in-person check-ins with law enforcement for people on its registry, from the current system that allows offenders to register and check in by mail.