Specialized Sex Offender Supervision

Offenders who are ordered by the court to abide by the Supplemental Conditions of Supervision for Sex Offenders are supervised in the Specialized Sex Offender Unit. These special conditions provide necessary increased restrictions for sex offenders that may include: limited or no access to children, electronic monitoring, sex offender counseling/treatment, no alcohol use and search and seizure -- including forensic search of a probationer's computer(s). Due to the ever-increasing use of technology to commit sexual offenses, some courts have begun implementing special conditions of supervision to address this area, such as providing supervision officers with email account(s) information, no use of social networking sites or chat rooms, no use of wiping software and installation of blocking software on all computers utilized by offenders -- if they are allowed Internet access. Some courts require 24/7, real-time monitoring of offender's computers.

Sex offenders on community supervision may also be court-ordered to have a chaperon prior to having contact with children. Chaperon candidates must complete four 90-minute chaperon educational sessions taught by sex offender supervision officers as part of the process to become an approved chaperon. If approved, chaperons are required to attend refresher courses every six months, including one individual session with the assigned officer and one refresher class.

Sex offenders on community supervision have more frequent reporting requirements and increased contacts with their officer outside of the office including visits at their home, work and sex offender treatment groups.

Specialized Sex Offender Supervision Officers receive a variety of specialized training to supervise sex offender caseloads including, but not limited to, training on the etiology of sexual offending, sex offender registration laws, treatment and containment of sexual offenders, victimization issues, as well as monitoring offenders' computer use.