Sex Offender Level Information

Community Notification Act

Level 1

Level 1 sex offenders are offenders who are determined to be at a lower risk to re-offend. Police agencies may open a file on these offenders and may release information about the release of the offender to victims of, and witnesses to the crime, other law enforcement agencies, and anyone identified by the prosecuting attorney to receive the information.

Level 2

Level 2 sex offenders are determined to be at a moderate risk to re-offend. Police agencies may release information to anyone included in the Level One information release, and in addition, may notify organizations about the offender’s release. These organizations may include schools, daycare centers, and other organizations where individuals who may become victims of the offender are regularly found. Law enforcement will make the decision on which organizations to notify based on the offender’s past pattern of behavior. Law enforcement officials may also choose to notify certain individuals that they determine to be at possible risk from the offender, but this is not a wide spread community notification. Organizations notified about a Level Two offender are given this information to protect individuals in their care while they are on or near the premises of those organizations. The information is not to be re-distributed by those organizations that have been notified.

Level 3

Level 3 offenders have been determined to be at the highest risk for re-offense out of all the three risk levels. Law enforcement may notify all individuals and agencies included in Level One and Level Two notifications, and may also distribute information about the offender to everyone else in the community. In addition, officials may use the media and other distribution methods to get this information to the public. According to law enforcement policy, enforcement officials hold public meetings in the areas where Level Three offenders reside. At those meetings, information about the notification process, about the registration of predatory offenders, and information about the general population of these offenders is distributed and discussed. In addition, information about a specific offender or offenders is released. The information includes a general area of residence, a description of the offender (with photograph), and a description of the pattern of behavior that this offender has been known to display in the past. This disclosure does not apply to offenders that are in license residential facilities where staff have been trained to manage sexual offenders (halfway houses) nor does it apply to offenders in secure hospital facilities operated by the Department of Human Services (hospitals at Moose Lake and St. Peter, MN.)

Level 3 Sex Offender Information

Information regarding Level 3 Predatory Offenders is posted on the Minnesota Department of Corrections website according to Minnesota Statutes 244.052. To check Level 3 sex offender information and to be linked to the Minnesota Department of Corrections site, click here .

Scott County Level 3 Sex Offenders

The individuals who appear on the Minnesota Department of Corrections website have been convicted of criminal sexual conduct or other offenses that requires registration with law enforcement pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 243.166. The offenders are NOT wanted by the Scott County Sheriff’s Offices at the time and HAVE served the sentence imposed on them by the court. The information is not intended to increase fear in the community. An informed public is a safer public.
The risk level of the offenders has been determined based largely on their potential to re-offend based on the previous criminal behavior.

Concerns with public notification

Community notification has been a controversial issue throughout the country. Opponents of community notification raised arguments suggesting it will lead to vigilante action and perhaps even recidivism among offenders who are unable to reintegrate back into the community. Community notification’s intent is to protect potential victims and reduce re-offense by creating an informed community. Thus far, community notification has been handled responsibly by law enforcement and has not resulted in the wide scale disruption and violent response feared by opponents. Law enforcement, through public notification, stresses the following concerns:

• Harassment of the offender will not be tolerated.
• The specific offender information released in the community notification is NOT the only offender the community needs to worry about. Many assaults are perpetrated by offenders who are acquainted or related to their victims. The most dangerous offenders are the offenders who are still unidentified to law enforcement and the public. Meetings include basic information on how citizens can protect themselves from any offender, known or unknown.
• By notifying the victims and witnesses of an offender’s release and location, Minnesota statutes protect the rights of the “lower risk” offenders while still protecting the victims.
• One of the major adverse effects of community notification upon release has been an increasing inability of offenders to find suitable housing and employment.
• Sex offenders enjoy secrecy. Through community notification, secrecy has been removed. Sex offenders gain power from secrecy. The community gains power from becoming a part of the restoration process and by taking back power once belonging to the offender. Any power the community takes back removes the offender’s power to victimize others.
• Community notification has increased collaboration among probation, law enforcement, victim services and corrections. In addition, it has provided law enforcement with a means to educate the community, as well as promote police/citizen activities such as neighborhood watch.

Community notification won’t guarantee safety.

There is no known way that anyone can accurately predict the future behavior of another person. The process of screening individuals in prison to place them into risk categories does not mean that the Department of Corrections has devised a way to predict and control behavior. Assigning risk levels, requiring predatory offenders to register, and community notification won’t guarantee the safety of you and your loved ones. Take responsibility. Give your children rules to follow and the knowledge to make good decisions. Teach them to trust their own feelings and assure them they have the right to say no to what they sense is wrong. Empower yourself and your family instead of the offenders!