Interesting Statistic – Most Florida Sex Offenders are NOT in the Community

The stated purpose of a public registry is SUPPOSED to make the public aware of who to “watch out for” in the community, right?

Well in doing some research, I came across a statistic that was pretty surprising. MOST registered citizens on the Florida Sex Offenders Registry are NOT IN THE COMMUNITY. In fact, about 60% are not!

Here’s how it works… Florida adds people on the list and never removes them. If someone visits Florida for five days, they are required to register and they remain on the public registry forever, even if they never return to this state again. If someone lived in Florida but moved away to another State or Country, they remain on Florida’s registry. I always point out the most absurd example; the Florida registry even has a category for “deceased” registrants. Yes, even dead sex offenders remain on the public registry in Florida!

The statistic, ironically, came from the Florida Legislation’s Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA) and can be found here. The 2012 report states that there are more on the registry who are not in the community than are! So why is the registry diluted by the inclusion of people who are not even there to “watch out for”? The irony of this report is that OPPAGA is the agency that “provides data, evaluative research, and objective analyses to assist legislative budget and policy deliberations” and this report came out in 2012.

In other words, for over three years already, the Florida legislature knew that it’s wasting lots of money and resources on a registry that’s overflowing with people “to watch out for” when less than half the people are out there to watch. At the same time, from a public safety perspective, it’s hurting the effectiveness of the registry by diluting the public’s focus.

So why do lawmakers maintain such a bloated and ineffective registry? I’ll give you a hint… it begins with “M” and rhymes with honey.