Sex offender list ruling, DWI enforcement efforts will keep law officials busy

The new law is Missouri Statute 577.600, which says that repeat offenders of Missouri's alcohol-related driving laws must install ignition interlock devices in the vehicles they drive. That's good news for manufacturers of the device -- the state already has 70,000 drivers who quality, enough to fill every seat in Mizzou's Faurot Field.

Although the law is primarily aimed at those arrested after July 1, it will also impact past offenders who have not yet reinstated their driving privileges. They, too, will be required to install an ignition interlock device.

The closest city to Marshall with an interlock device installer is Sedalia. Find a list of approved ignition interlock device installers in other cities at the Web site below: www.savemolives.com/programs/documents/I...

More information about the program can be found at www.savemolives.com.

Just as the new law is taking effect, Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety has implemented a program in cooperation with law enforcement aimed at those same drivers and at others who make "bad decisions that cause deadly crashes," said Leanna Depue, chair of the coalition's executive committee.

The program, "The HEAT is On," takes aim at the 70-day period between July 1 and Sept. 30, when traffic deaths are highest. The summer months are deadly in the state. In 2008, there were 251 traffic deaths and 1,820 disabling injuries in the period.

In that 90-day period, High Enforcement Action Teams will be in operation on 70 days throughout the state. Captain Robert L. Powell, commanding officer of Missouri Highway Patrol Troop A, announced Wednesday, July 1, that some time during the months of July and August, driving while intoxicated "saturations" will be conducted in counties in Troops A's jurisdiction.

Getting impaired drivers off the road is a goal for the new program. For all of 2008, 262 people were killed, 1,113 seriously injured and another 3,398 sustained minor injuries in crashes involving an impaired driver.

As traffic enforcement heats up, state and local law officers will also be enforcing a Missouri Supreme Court decision announced June 16 that impacts sex offenders who were not previously required to register.

Missouri's sex offender registry was established in 1995, but excluded offenders convicted before that date or convicted in other states or in a military court. In August 2000, the registration scheme was amended to include misdemeanor offenses under Chapter 566 of Missouri Revised Statutes. Except for certain very limited circumstances, registration is for life.

Although a circuit court in June 2006 found in favor of offenders who argued they were protected under a state statute that barred enactment of laws that are retrospective in operation, the state Supreme Court reversed that decision June 16 and cited federally mandated registration requirements under the Federal Sexual Offenders Registration and Notification Act requiring those offenders to register.

According to a list of names issued by Missouri State Highway Patrol, the decision impacts approximately 45 offenders in Saline County, roughly doubling the number of names on the county list. The highway patrol Web site list includes more than 7,700 names from across the state.

When the June 2006 circuit court decision went into effect, the Missouri state list included about 11,000 names.

Included in the press release from MSHP is a letter that will be sent to all the previously-exempt offenders, directing them to report to the chief law enforcement officials of the county in which they reside within three days, unless they have already re-registered. The letter notes that failure to comply with registration requirements is a felony offense.

While there are varying opinions statewide about whether the sex offender list is too broad, sweeping violent offenders and mutually-consenting teenagers having sex into one category, most law enforcement officials, judges and attorneys point out, "The law is the law. We're sworn to uphold it."

Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Donald G. Stouffer said Wednesday, July 1, that his office would handle the new registrations the way it did when the law changed in August 2000 to include misdemeanor offenses.

"We'll send them the notification letter, give them a grace period to reply and then proceed accordingly," Stouffer said.

Saline County Sheriff Wally George said Thursday, July 2, that it would take his people some time to get the information together.

"What we have to do is locate all the people on the list we have. We took them all off in June 2006 and now we have to put them all back. It's a fair amount of work, but we should be able to get it done in maybe four to six weeks," he said.

George added that the number of violent offenders on Saline County's list is relatively small, and that the majority are not violent. He also pointed out that some of the individuals on the list might have left the area.

The state sex offender list can be found at www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/Patrol...

Requirements for registration are available here:

www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/Patrol...

Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net