Sex offender registry site earns praise

By MARY RAINWATER

Ogden, Utah — TopTenREVIEWS.com, a trusted technology and entertainment review site, has ranked Texas No. 4 in its recently released 2008 rankings for state-run sex offender registry Web sites.

The review of the state-run registry Web sites was completed on Jan. 25, using a weighting system that is based in part on the criteria established under Section 118 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (2006), which all states must comply with by July 2009 or risk the loss of federal funding.

The act establishes a national standard for state sex offender registry Web sites. Registry features that were above and beyond the standard legislative requirements also were factored in a state’s overall ranking.

“TopTenREVIEWS.com was born out of an effort to educate parents, starting with our first review on Web filtering software,” said Jerry Ropelato, CEO, TopTenREVIEWS.com. “The Sex Offender Registry Review reflects our company’s roots as we aim to arm the public with valuable information to help protect our children and our communities.”

The TopTen states in the 2008 State Sex Offender Registry Review include:

1. Florida - Gold Award

2. Arizona - Silver Award

3. Washington - Bronze Award

4. Texas

5. Indiana

6. Idaho

7. Iowa

8. New York

9. North Dakota

10. Illinois

Florida was recognized with TopTenREVIEWS.com’s Gold Award for its proactive search function. Arizona claimed the Silver Award for its search by electronic identity function, also offered by Florida.

Search by electronic identity enables the public to enter an e-mail address or instant messaging screen name to learn if these names are in the registry’s database.

The state of Washington earned the Bronze Award for its detailed search by offense feature, the most thorough of its kind in the country.

The strengths of the state’s sex offender registry Web site was based on the following five criteria:

• Information Provided: The quality and quantity of information provided, if offenders were categorized based on their risk level and whether or not they were likely to offend again.

• Search Functions: Whether a site’s search function was easy to use, produced relevant results and provided in-depth search features.

• Additional Site Features: Expanded capabilities such as mapping functions, e-mail alerts and printer-friendly profiles.

• Ease of Use: Whether a site can be easily navigated and if information can be found quickly.

• Contact Information: If contact information was posted for citizens to make direct inquiries and comments.

By visiting www.toptenreviews.com, the public can easily obtain reviews and see how their state ranks with information presented in an easy-to-read format with side-by-side comparison charts.

In addition to the rankings and reviews, TopTenREVIEWS.com includes a direct link to view and use each state’s online registry, as well as informative articles about sex offender registry Web sites to further inform the public.

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TopTenREVIEWS and TopTen are trademarks of TopTenREVIEWS Inc. All other names are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Mary Rainwater may be reached via e-mail at mrainwater@palestineherald.com