Purpose

To determine the extent of implementation of the five recommendations included in our initial audit report, Oversight of Sex Offenders Subject to Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment (2014-S-50).

Background

The Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act (Act) was enacted in 2007 to deal with the civil management, including confinement and post-release supervision, of certain sex offenders. The Act applies to offenders who have been legally determined to suffer from a mental abnormality that predisposes them to committing a sex offense and that results in their difficulty controlling this behavior. The most dangerous of these sex offenders are confined in a secure treatment facility operated by the Office of Mental Health. Offenders assessed as less dangerous are released to the community and are subject to Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment (SIST) administered by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (Department). Sex offenders under SIST are referred to as respondents. The Act requires SIST Parole Officers (Officers) to have a minimum number of monthly contacts with respondents. The Department establishes additional requirements, which often include electronic monitoring with GPS technology. Department policy requires Officers to record all relevant supervision activities, including contacts with respondents and responses to electronic monitoring alerts, in its electronic Case Management System. There were 127 respondents subject to SIST during the period January 1, 2016 to October 30, 2018. 

Our initial audit report sought to determine whether the Department was adequately monitoring and enforcing SIST conditions for sex offenders placed in the community. We identified weaknesses in Officers’ meeting contact requirements and significant differences in compliance among the locations we tested. We also found that Officers didn’t adequately document their responses to certain electronic monitoring alerts.

Key Finding

The Department has made significant progress in addressing the issues we identified in our initial report. Of the five prior audit recommendations, all five were implemented.