February 9th, 2007
After losing track of sex offenders, DE vows it will not happen again
In Delaware, Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security David B. Mitchell's staff lost track of some 800 sex offenders. And Mitchell said Thursday his top priority is to ensure that it never happens again, Delaware State News reports.
Mitchell asked the legislative Joint Finance Committee for three additional employees "to keep the sex offender registry up to date." Legislators said they would fund the request through a $7.50 increase in background checks.
"That will enable Secretary Mitchell to hire the people he needs," said Office of Management and Budget Director Jennifer W. Davis.
Rep. Peter C. Schwartzkopf, a Democrat, said it is incumbent upon legislators to find the funding to hire more employees for SBI.
"We as a lawmaking body passed legislation requiring more work of SBI," said Rep. Schwartzkopf, a retired Delaware State Police captain who worked at SBI from 1991-92.
"There are more agencies requiring background checks and we put SBI in charge of the sex offender registry. If we're mandating that things be done, we should provide the resources for them to do it in a timely manner."
