By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Buchanan County (Mo.) Sheriff Bill Puett says his deputies will be out in force Halloween night, making sure registered sex offenders are not giving out candy to kids.
Puett says about 15 teams of two will be knocking on the doors of sex offenders to check for compliance with the law.
“We want to make sure that everybody is being compliant with the law, make sure the community is safe,” Puett says. “So, we do that and we’ll bring in a bunch of people on overtime. We’ll have partnerships with the (U.S.) Marshal service. The Marshal service will send a couple of folks up.”
Registered sex offenders cannot participate in the tradition of giving out candy to children Halloween night. In fact, they are required to turn their lights off and post notice that they will not be giving out candy.
Buchanan County has approximately 300 registered sex offenders.
Puett says usually his deputies find very few violations.
“Sometimes it’s minor violations. Sometimes it’s pretty significant, which would mean that the officers that are checking the location would then take that person into custody and make the case for violating the issues of the Halloween provisions,” according to Puett.
Puett says his deputies will check each house once and then likely will return to make sure they are not participating in trick or treating.
Puett says sex offenders might complain, but they will comply.
“Lots of sex offenders are upset by the law, they don’t like it,” Puett says. “However, it’s the law and we’re going to enforce that.”
Cover image courtesy Unsplash