Is checking sex offender registries an adequate background check?
Checking sex offender registries is better than no record check at all, but the registries have some serious limitations. Most states have sex offender registries accessible to the public via the Internet. The theory behind sex offender registries is that individuals convicted for sex-related crimes must register each time they move and this enables law enforcement agencies and members of the public to know when a dangerous offender is in their area. Some states limit the publicly accessible list to only the most serious of all sex offenders so failure to appear on these registries would not mean that the individual is not a sex offender. The large number of sex offenders who fail to register in a timely fashion hampers the effectiveness of sex offender registries. The quality of the information is questionable so not having information on an individual does not necessarily mean that the individual has not committed a sex related offense. Having said that, sex offender registries may b
