Law enforcement to conduct sex offender checks on Halloween

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- On Friday evening, the Buchanan County Sheriff's office conducted sex offender compliance checks on Halloween.

Two officers were split up into 16 groups to check the city and county.

According to Missouri Law, sex offenders must stay at his or her residence between the hours of 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. unless required to be elsewhere for just cause, including but not limited to employment or medical emergencies.

The law also states to avoid all Halloween-related contact with children, leave all outside residential lighting off during the evening hours after 5 p.m. and any person required to register as a sexual offender under sections 589.400 to 589.425 who violates the provisions will be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

Before heading out on patrol, the officers had a meal and a quick briefing going over the protocols they need to follow during the checks.

Each group was assigned a route and given a list of all the offenders in the area. The officers went to each offender home asking for their ID and made sure they were following the law.

Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett said the sex offender checks are important because the law is very specific.

"The sheriff's office always wants to make sure that we're providing the best service to our community and making sure that we're keeping everybody as safe as we can keep them," he said.

The Buchanan County Sheriff's office checked over 300 homes on Friday evening.