Tracking sex offenders on campus: campuses now protected by new laws. (Update).

Prior to October 28 members of campus communities had no inklinq if a convicted sex offender was in their midst. But now, under newly expanded and amended federal laws, the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act requires state-registered sex offenders to inform those states when they enroll at an institution of higher education the state, or if they will be working or volunteering on campus. That information must be promptly made available to law enforcement agencies within the jurisdictions of those IHEs, and must be entered into appropriate state records or data systems. IHEs must also issue a statement to the campus community, advising where state information regarding registered sex offenders may be found. Registrants failing to provide the campus-pertinent information to their states are subject La criminal penalties.

Still, the law doesn't specify how states must makes the information public, each state is free to make this determination on its own, explains S. Daniel Carter, senior VP of Security On Campus, Inc., which supported the development and passing of the legislation. "Most schools plan to link, or are already linking, to state Web sites which will disclose this information," he says. "Others are developing lists of their own either on the Web, or at their offices."

Carter adds, "This new national standard will help ensure that states afford college campuses the same level of protection that other communities receive under Megan's Law." That is, if the law is adopted. States can choose not to comply, but they will lose 10 percent of their Byrne Grant funding, which supports criminal justice strategies developed by the states. So far, the following states are implementing the new laws: California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Utah, Iowa, South Carolina, Michigan, and Florida.