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Criminal offender registration pushed
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Posted on Feb 19 2012
After a Sex Offender Registry now comes a proposal to also set up a Criminal Offender Registry.
Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota) introduced a bill that seeks to require convicted felons to register for the purpose of tracking them and providing notification to the public of the presence of convicted felons.
Senate Bill 17-98, which the Senate may pass on Thursday, said the registry will be an important help to law enforcement agencies, the public and communities if a person engages in criminal conduct.
“The registration is intended to aid law enforcement agencies in timely apprehending suspected repeat offenders. Registration is not a punishment, but merely a status,” the bill says.
Under Taimanao’s bill, any person who has been convicted of a crime in any federal court or in any court or state other than the CNMI, or of any foreign state or country, which crime if committed in the CNMI would be a felony, shall within48 hours after entering the CNMI register with the Department of Public Safety.
The CNMI already has a Sex Offender Registry, which requires those convicted of sexual crime to register as a sex offender. There are 134 registered sex offenders in the CNMI but some of them are no longer required to register after meeting the 10-year requirement. Some are off-island, some are deceased, and others are in prison.
