Lake Co. upgrades sex offender registry site

New and improved methods of keeping track of convicted sex offenders have been added to the Lake County sheriff's website, officials said Wednesday.

A program called “Sex Offender Watch” will allow citizens to create a map showing the location of sex offenders living near their homes and register for email alerts on those moving into the neighborhood.

“I am excited about this new program as I believe it is truly a step up in safety and security for the children of Lake County,” Curran said in a news release. “We are doing the best we can, given the economy and budgetary concerns, to keep up with technology and provide the citizens of Lake County with quality service.”

The new program allows a person to enter his or her address into the program and create a map showing the addresses of registered sex offenders within a two-mile radius of the entered address.

It is a change from the current system that displays only the addresses of registered sex offenders, and requires interested parties to calculate the proximity.

In addition, according to sheriff's technology specialist Jeffrey Burkin, residents can sign up their email addresses with the sheriff's office and receive notice whenever a sex offender registers in their neighborhood.

“Once a person signs up, the notices are sent to the email address whenever there is an update to the sex offender registry,” Burkin said. “There is no requirement to update the registration notices for recipients. Email notices will continue to be sent until people ask to be removed from the list.”

Burkin also said the map creation function is not limited to home addresses.

“People can put in any address they choose – their kid's bus stop, their place of work or any other area they frequent,” he said. “In each case, the addresses of sex offenders within a two-mile radius of that address will be produced.”

To view the new program, go to www.lakecountyil.gov/sheriff and locate the “Sex Offender List” tab on the website.