Most of the local convicted sex offenders registered with the Rhea County Sheriff's Department last week in compliance with a new state law.

A new state law requires convicted sex offenders to register with the local sheriff's department quarterly if they were convicted of violent offenses and annually if convicted of nonviolent offenses.

Sheriff's department clerk Pam Hixson said she had registered 18 convicted sex offenders living in Rhea County as of Friday morning. Although the Sept. 1 deadline for registering has come and gone, Hixson said the sheriff's department would continue to register them without prosecution for a short time.

"They aren't liking it," Hixson said. "They really don't like having to pay the $60 fee in order to register."

The sex offenders must complete a detailed form containing personal, family, residence and work information. Hixson takes a photo of the sex offender and his vehicle and then fingerprints them.

Most of those who have registered are long-time residents of Rhea County and were already known to local police, Hixson said.

If the sheriff's department discovers sex offenders who have not registered, Domestic Violence Investigator Rocky Potter will investigate and turn the case over to the District Attorney's office for prosecution.

First-time offenders can receive up to 180 days in jail for failure to register.

Information about sex offenders living in Rhea County can be found online at the Tennessee Internet Crime Information Center's Sexual Offender Registry at http://www.ticic.state.tn.us/SEX_ofndr/search_short.asp.

The online registry lists 23 sex offenders convicted since 1997 who are currently living in Rhea County. In addition to their name and crime, the registry also includes a photo and address.

The list of Rhea County offenders includes 22 men and one woman. 15 of them gave Dayton area addresses, six were from Spring City, one was from Graysville and one was from Grandview.
Nine of the men were convicted of statutory rape, five men and the one woman were convicted of attempted aggravated sexual battery, three men were convicted of sexual battery, two of attempted rape, one of incest, one of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, and one of rape and aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.

Information about sexual offenders convicted of nonviolent crimes prior to July 1, 1997, is considered confidential by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Information about sexual offenders convicted of violent crimes prior to July 1, 1997, can be released to the public at the discretion of Sheriff Mike Neal.

John Carpenter can be reached at jcarpenter@xtn.net.