Miami County’s annual mass check to ensure convicted sex offenders are living at addresses they register with the sheriff’s office found few problems, Sheriff Dave Duchak said.
Officers from the sheriff’s department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, U.S. Marshal’s office, the Adult Probation Authority and Troy, Piqua, Covington, Tipp City and West Milton police hit the road early Oct. 27 to begin the effort to verify addresses of the 146 registered offenders in the county.
As the officers prepared for the day, they were briefed by Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Marion. Each team was assigned up to 20 addresses to check.
For safety purposes, a special communications protocol was set up for the calling out of each address as it was being checked. A dispatcher at the county Communication Center also was assigned specifically to the operation, Marion said.
The cautions were needed “with safety being first and foremost in the crazy day that law enforcement is today,” he said.
Of the 146 addresses, 108 addresses were verified and three offenders were found to be potentially out of compliance. Additional information is being collected in those cases.
Officers assigned to the Tipp City-Bethel Township area checked 15 addresses during the day.
The county sheriff’s offices across Ohio are the offender registration locations. Each office has a Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) program that keeps track of the offenders.
During the checks, officers found one man with outstanding warrants who was arrested on additional charges of drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest.
Another investigation resulted in drug possession charges.
Addresses that could not be checked will receive follow up visits on a random schedule by deputies, Duchak said.
Random checks are made for address verification throughout the year. So far in 2017, charges have been filed on 12 people allegedly out of compliance.
For more information or questions about the SORN program, call the Miami County Sheriff’s Office at 440-6000 Extension 6638 and ask for Carol Foster.