Had Joshua Thomas Price failed to register as a convicted sex offender one year ago, he would have faced eight to 10 months in prison and “presumptive probation.”
But a new law that went into effect June 1, 2006, dramatically increased the punishment for failing to register. Price now faces 50 to 55 months in prison and “presumptive prison”.
The 20-year-old was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child. He failed to register with the county sheriff’s office within 10 days of coming into Cowley County where he lived or temporarily lived for more than 10 days.
The local sheriff’s office caught up with him after responding to a disturbance call, according to Undersheriff Don Read. It’s Read’s job to monitor registered offenders in this county.
Price, who was living in Arkansas City at the time, was arrested May 16. He made his first court appearance May 18 and is to return to the courtroom May 29. He is being held in the County Jail, according to district court records.
The new law also contains additional duties for Price and other offenders. They are required now to annually renew a driver’s license or state issued identification card on the offender’s birthday. The license and identification card should indicate the person is a registered offender.
Offenders are also required to register in person at the sheriff’s office of the county of residence twice a year – during the month of their birthday and during the sixth month following their birthday. A registration fee of $20 is also to be charged for each time the offender reports to the sheriff’s office, according to Read.
First time offenders must register for 10 years after convicted, if not sent to prison, or 10 years after being paroled or released from prison. Second time offenders and aggravated offenders must register for life.
Read has 67 offenders on the list he monitors; two are female. The oldest was 75; the youngest 16.
Since 1993, when the Kansas Sex Offender Registration Act was first enacted, Read has registered 134 offenders in Cowley County; 69 of the 134 are inactive. That means the offender may have moved or is no longer required to register in this state.
Read has modified his routine checks of offenders as the list and challenges have changed over the last 10 years. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation serves as the central repository for all offender registration. A list of the registrants is provided the sheriff’s office. Read picks approximately 15 names from the list each month for random checks.
To find out where an offender lives, contact the sheriff’s office in the county where the offender lives, check on the Internet at www.accesskansas.org/kbi, or at KBI headquarters in Topeka.