Arkansas, like most other states, has a program in place that requires defendants convicted of some sexual offenses to register with law enforcement authorities as a sexual offender. There are many facets to this program and the nature of a person’s registration and what is involved may vary based, at least in part, on the nature of the offense for which they were convicted. In some cases, even a person who is acquitted of a sex crime offense may still be required to register as a sex offender.
One of the elements of the sex offender registry program is the ability of people in the general public to look up individual registrants. The Arkansas Crime Information Center indicates that a search may be conducted by a person’s name, county, city, zip code or even a specific street address. It is not known how many searches take place, but this remains a common part of most registry programs.
A related element of the program is the notification system that is built around the level of offender a person is identified as. The State of Arkansas indicates that there are four levels of community notification. A person’s alleged offense and history of any previous offenses will be some of the factors that influence the level they are identified as. A level 1 notification is the lowest of all and is assigned to a person generally with no previous offenses on record.
A level 4 notification mandates broad community notification and is given to a person deemed to be sexually dangerous. This is often assigned to someone who was acquitted of a charge due to a personality disorder or other mental health issue.