MONITORING OF OFFENDERS REQUIRED TO
COMPLY WITH THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY
REQUIREMENTS
A Report to the Governor, House Appropriations Committee,
And Senate Finance Committee

January 2010

Colonel W. Steven Flaherty
Superintendent

Colonel W. S. (Steve) Flaherty
Superintendent
———————
(804) 674-2000

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE

Lt. Col. Robert B. Northern
Deputy Superintendent

P. O. Box 27472, Richmond, VA 23261-7472
(804) 674-2000

January 1, 2010

TO:

The Honorable Timothy M. Kaine, Governor of Virginia
The Honorable Charles J. Colgan
Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee
The Honorable Lacey E. Putney
Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee

Pursuant to the 2009 Appropriation Act, I am respectfully submitting herewith, a Report
on Monitoring of Offenders Required to Comply with the Sex Offender Registry
Requirements. The report is a compilation of the Department’s efforts from December
1, 2008, through November 30, 2009.
Respectfully,

Superintendent

WSF/CAV
Enclosure

I

Report on Monitoring of Offenders Required to Comply with
the Sex Offender Registry Requirements

Preface
Pursuant to the 2009 Appropriation Act, the Department of State Police is pleased to
provide this report on the monitoring of offenders required to comply with the Sex
Offender Registry requirements.

II

Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry (SOR) Verifications
As of December 1, 2009, there were 16,238 sex offenders listed on the Virginia State
Police Sex Offender Registry. They are divided into three groups which consist of the
following: (1) 3,171 registrants under Department of Corrections Probation and Parole
Services, (2) 6,053 sex offenders whose verification will be conducted by the
Department of State Police, and (3) the remaining 7,014 registrants who are
incarcerated in jails or prisons across the state.
The Virginia Department of State Police (VSP) has developed and maintained a webbased system for recording and monitoring residence and employment address
verifications. This database is utilized by Virginia State Police troopers and Department
of Corrections (DOC) Probation and Parole officers tasked with completing the
verification process. Our agency conducts training in the use of this system. There are
43 Probation and Parole officers and 40 Virginia State Police Sex Offender Investigative
Unit troopers trained in this system to date. This training will continue until all Probation
and Parole officers are familiar with this program.
In the past twelve months, from December 1, 2008, to November 30, 2009, VSP
conducted 16,078 verifications of home and work addresses. The offender
compliance rate for verification is 94 percent. All of these verifications were
completed utilizing the troopers assigned to the Sex Offender Investigative Unit.
Registry Violations
In the past twelve months, from December 1, 2008, through November 30, 2009, the
Virginia State Police conducted 2,651 criminal investigations for “Failure to Register”
and “Providing False Information.” During this same period, there were 972 arrests
made across the state by the Virginia State Police for violations of the aforementioned
offenses, with 379 convictions to date. Many cases are still pending trial. These
investigations initiated from troopers’ observations, tips from citizens, information from
other law enforcement agencies, information from the Department of Corrections, and
other states’ sex offender registries. Also, during the time from December 1, 2008, to
November 30, 2009, the Registry and the Investigative Unit received 1,605 tips and/or
comments through the State Police website that needed follow up investigations.
Coordination with Other State and Local Law Enforcement Organizations
Interagency coordination during this reporting period includes the following:
•

VSP and DOC – VSP developed the Sex Offender Verification (SOV) System,
which is also used by DOC. VSP continues to conduct training for both
agencies.

•

VSP and DOC - Area offices register or re-register each incoming sex offender
and work to process offenders who are under the supervision of Probation and
Parole.
1

•

VSP and DOC – Offenders are monitored through joint initiatives, such as the
Halloween meetings that took place at several Probation and Parole offices.
These meetings were designed to monitor offender movement during this
children’s celebration of the Fall season.

•

VSP, DOC, and the United States Marshal Service - This fugitive task force
initiative was continued and will include sex offender fugitives in its targeted
operations. In the summer of 2009, the task force initiated Operation Falcon.
This one-week effort resulted in arrests statewide.

•

VSP and other states – VSP worked with several out-of-state registries to locate
and apprehend absconders who crossed state lines to escape compliance with
sex offender registration requirements.

•

VSP and local agencies – VSP developed small task force initiatives with local
agencies across the state with the goal of enhancing investigations surrounding
SOR violations and to improve the line of communication throughout Virginia’s
criminal justice system.
Staffing Requirements

The 2006 Virginia General Assembly allocated the Virginia State Police 45 sworn
positions as an enforcement component of the Sex Offender Registry. This unit is
committed to monitor and prosecute sex offenders who fail to comply with Title 9.1 of
the Code of Virginia. The following information provides an overview of the creation,
implementation, and progress of the Sex Offender Investigative Unit.
In July 2006, the Sex Offender Investigative Unit was implemented by establishing one
first sergeant position, four sergeant positions, and 40 trooper positions. This unit was
added to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division in the Bureau of
Administrative and Support Services. The positions of the unit were constructed to
provide an enforcement component to the Sex Offender Registry with the goal of
providing quick and in-depth investigations of sex offender violations. To properly
distribute these established positions, the sex offender population in the Commonwealth
was studied and the results were utilized for the creation of four regions; one sergeant
and ten troopers would be assigned to each region. Originally, the offender to trooper
ratio was expected to be 120:1. Since the implementation of the program in 2006, that
ratio has grown to 151:1. To further ensure efficiency, each region was divided into
areas or small geographical work units to ensure that manpower was distributed evenly
within each region.
The 2008 Manpower Augmentation Plan recommended that the Department assign one
trooper for each 100 sex offenders living in Virginia communities. At current levels, this
would require 55 troopers. The positions would be allocated according to the
distribution of registered sex offenders in each division and the Department would use
the normal supervisory staff ratio of one supervisor per 12 troopers.
One administrative and office specialist II is needed in each of the four regions for
clerical support of the Sex Offender Investigative Unit. The tracking of criminal case
2

requests and criminal investigations generated by the unit will increase as a result of the
added trooper positions. This position would enter information into the Department’s
criminal investigative report system and maintain information on pending cases.
The overall objective of the Sex Offender Investigative Unit is to enhance public safety
by investigating and successfully closing criminal cases involving sex offenders who fail
to comply with Title 9.1 of the Code of Virginia.
General Observations
The below data is from the time period of December 1, 2008, to November 30, 2009.
Address Verifications per Region
Location
Region One
Region Two
Region Three
Region Four
Totals

# To Be Verified
5
6
46
74
131

# Verified
4,225
3,845
4,129
3,879
16,078

Percent Completed
99%
99%
99%
98%
99%

* Information derived from the Virginia State Police Sex Offender Verification System.

Type Address Verification per Region
Location
Region One
Region Two
Region Three
Region Four
Totals

Home
Change
759
696
738
802
2,995

Home
Initial
48
87
69
66
270

Home
Semi-Annual
2098
2083
2370
2434
8,985

Work
Change
573
576
615
537
2,301

School
Change
19
21
30
18
88

Criminal Investigations per Region
From December 1, 2008, to November 30, 2009
Location
Region One
Region Two
Region Three
Region Four
Totals

# Cases
615
634
816
586
2,651

* Information derived from Virginia State Police Criminal Investigative Report File and FACTS System.

3

Failure to Register Convictions by Jurisdiction 1/1/2008 – 12/31/2008
JURISDICTION NAME
Albemarle County
Arlington County
Alleghany County
Amherst County
Augusta County
Bedford County
Botetourt County
Buckingham County
Campbell County
Caroline County
Carroll County
Chesterfield County
Culpepper County
Cumberland County
Dickenson County
Fairfax County
Franklin County
Frederick County
Giles County
Gloucester County
Goochland County
Greene County
Hanover County
Henrico
Henry County
King George County
Loudoun County
Madison County
Montgomery County
Orange County
Page County
Pittsylvania County
Powhatan County
Prince Edward County
Prince George County
Prince William County
Rappahannock County
Richmond County
Roanoke County
Rockbridge County

JURISDICTION NAME
Rockingham County
Shenandoah County
Smyth County
Spotsylvania County
Stafford County
Tazewell County
Washington County
Wise County
Wythe County
York County
Surry County
City
Alexandria
Buena Vista
Charlottesville
Colonial Heights
Danville
Fredericksburg
Galax
Hampton
Harrisonburg
Hopewell
Lynchburg
Manassas
Martinsville
Newport News
Norfolk
Petersburg
Portsmouth
Richmond
Roanoke
Staunton
Suffolk
Virginia Beach
Chesapeake
Waynesboro
Williamsburg
Winchester
Total

COUNT
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
9
3
5
1
15
4
4
1
1
2
2
3
12
1
1
3
1
4
1
2
5
1
1
3
2
1
1
3
1

4

COUNT
1
1
2
5
3
2
2
1
3
2
1
5
1
5
2
5
3
2
9
1
3
9
1
2
6
51
5
8
20
11
2
1
15
10
2
5
2
316

Virginia Department of State Police
Sex Offender Registry (SOR) Regions
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