Georgia Loses Federal Dollars Over Sex Offender Registry
Georgia hasn’t been meeting some federal requirements for registering and monitoring sex offenders.
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Georgia has lost out on some of the federal dollars it counts on to maintain the state’s sex offender registry.
Georgia hasn’t been meeting some federal requirements for registering and monitoring sex offenders. States have had more than 10 years to comply with a federal law on how to do this, so this year, the U.S. Department of Justice denied Georgia’s application for an annual grant that’s been around $250,000 in past years.
Georgia didn’t appeal that decision.
“We’re going to continue to work with them, but we’re not going to undo the reforms that we put in place in terms of criminal justice reforms,” said Governor Nathan Deal in response to a letter from the DOJ.
One example of conflict between federal law and state practice? Georgia’s public registry website doesn’t include sex offenders’ current place of work.
But a DOJ spokesperson told WABE they’ve found ways to work with another state on just this issue. The department says it’s “looking forward to continuing to work with Georgia on issues that will move it toward substantial implementation” of federal law.
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