How to Find an Offender in Your Neighborhood

Finding offenders living in or near your neighborhood is easy.

There are many considerations when choosing a neighborhood in which to live. Proximity to work, quality of schools in the district, and proximity to restaurants, shopping and other amenities are a few things potential homeowners or renters consider. Many families also consider the presence of sex offenders a major safety concern in a neighborhood. It is easy to search a specific address to find any sex offenders living in the area.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

1. Visit the Wisconsin Department of Corrections website. Through this website, the state of Wisconsin provides a national sex offender registry that allows anyone to search for offenders in any state.

2. Search by location by typing in your street address, city, state and zip code. You also can search by name by typing in a specific last and first name and state.

3. Click "Search."

4. Observe the map to find green squares that indicate the location of all offenders.

5. Click "List" at the top of the map to view a complete list of all offenders in the area. The list includes the offender's full name, address and proximity to the address being searched.

Tips & Warnings

• You also can visit the U.S. Department of Justice website to search for registered offenders. However, the search results from this website produce a list that is less specific, identifying only the city and state of each offender. You must click on each offender to get specific information, such as address, physical description and offenses. Click on "Public Registry Sites" at the top of the screen to get a list of links to each state's public safety website. Each state maintains its own website, and the process for searching for offenders varies by state.

References

• Wisconsin Department of Corrections: Sex Offender Registry

Resources

• United States Department of Justice: Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website