Georgia Reviewer's Comments

On July 1, 2006 Georgia passed new legislation imposing more severe penalties on sex offenders including requiring sexual predators to wear an electronic monitoring system for life and pay for it themselves. The law also mandated risk assessment for registered sex offenders. Unfortunately, the site omits risk assessment designations. This is offset by the treatment of predators as a separate, searchable category. Georgia’s registry does not include a map and it is one of the most difficult sites to navigate. 

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Information Provided:  

Profiles include a color photograph as well as a detailed physical description that includes scars, marks and tattoos. There is a current residence address, but work and school addresses are excluded from the site.

Crime information is limited to offense name and conviction date. 

Search Functions:  

Three separate search pages are available: Predator, Absconder and Sex Offender. Search the offenders and predators by first name, last name, street name, city, zip code, county, gender and whether or not the offender is incarcerated. The first four fields can be limited by just an initial letter as opposed to a complete name. In the absconder search, your only option is to search by county. Despite having an excellent search function, there are still a few features missing including the ability to browse all entries and search by offense. 

Additional Site Features:  

Georgia offers a downloadable version of the registry on an Excel spreadsheet, a pdf version of a map showing the number of sex offenders in each county, and a summary of Georgia sex offenders including demographic information. There is a link to relevant Georgia statutes and a comprehensive FAQs page. Find child abuse prevention information through the Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) Georgia link. 

Ease of Use:  

Navigation is cumbersome: once you perform a search, you must return to the home page and begin the process all over again—you cannot return to the search page. Profile photos are enormous and make viewing extremely difficult. This site needs a redesign. 

Contact Information:  

You can contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation by phone or email.

Summary:  

Designating predators as a separate category makes this site more useful for Georgia communities. An interactive map, offense details, a better design and easier navigation are still needed to bring this site up to national standards.