MINOT — House Bill 1231, introduced by state Rep. Jason Dockter, would create a petition through which convicted sex offenders could petition the courts to remove themselves from the state’s offender registry, which Attorney General Drew Wrigley’s office maintains.
This is an excellent idea. We ought to do away with the offender registry, as it is a resource-hogging exercise in futility, but let’s talk about the legislation before us first.
“After seven years of registration, a sexual offender assigned a low-risk level by the attorney general may petition the sentencing court or the district court for the district in which the offender resides for an order relieving the offender of the duty to register,” the bill states.
Currently, the minimum amount of time offenders must register is 15 years, though the courts can assign the requirement for life. It’s routinely applied to all manner of offenses, from the grotesque to incidents of consensual sexual contact between teenagers (e.g. a 14-year-old and a 19-year-old).
The registration requirements are truly onerous, both for the offenders and for law enforcement. It’s not just a matter of keeping state officials apprised of a current address. Offenders must also register phone numbers, social media accounts and new relationships. Even mistakes and inadvertent omissions ca