Nashville, TN- This weekend the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will unveil a new mapping program that allows citizens to locate sex offenders in their neighborhood within a specific radius. In addition to that, the state legislature has passed a host of new laws that will not only increase the number of offenders required to register, but will also make some names public that are currently considered confidential.

The current sex offender law only requires offenders to register if they were incarcerated, on probation, or on parole after January 1, of 1995. The new law is retroactive, meaning anyone who has committed a sex crime in the past, regardless of the date, will need to report in with their local law enforcement between now and August 1st.

The current law also protects the names of those offenders who were convicted prior to July 1, 1997. Though they were available to law enforcement, they were not posted on the public registry. On July 1st, their names will be featured on the TBI website along with other offenders convicted after that date.

Another law change that was passed this year requires any offender who is registered in another state to register in Tennessee, regardless of whether they meet the criteria for Tennessee's registry.

Lastly, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is introducing a new feature that allows the public to map out offenders in their own neighborhoods. The names of nearly 10,000 offenders in the state will be available for viewing through that mapping program. The program will be viewable through the registry which is located on the TBI website at www.tbi.state.tn.us. All changes will take effect on July 1st.

Contact: Jennifer Johnson
615.744.4087 (office)
1.888.226.4454 (pager)