Atlanta, GA – Sex offenders under parole supervision in Georgia will be under house arrest or required to report to their parole officers during the hours children will be participating in Halloween activities Wednesday night. At a minimum, sex offenders on parole will be required to stay home and not participate in Halloween activities.

“They (sex offenders under supervision) will not be allowed to decorate outside the home, have outside lights turned on, or answer the door and participate,” stated Jay Lacienski, Field Operations Director for the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. “They have been strictly directed not to do anything to entice children to their homes,” he added.

Parole officers will be conducting residence checks where sex offenders who are on parole are currently living to ensure they are complying with the special conditions as well as standard sex offender conditions. Random searches of residences will also be conducted.

In some cases, sex offenders on parole are being directed to attend programs at specified locations during the Halloween hours, roughly from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., in most cases. Parole officers, in many cases, will take the opportunity to administer random drug tests and ensure all information on these offenders is current. Parole officers will also be working jointly with other law enforcement including State Probation under the Department of Corrections. In some areas, where public activities are being held for children and families, parole officers will be present to ensure these offenders are not attending.

Michael Nail, Executive Director of Parole, says the efforts are important. “We know that unfortunately, this may be a time that a child potentially can be targeted. This type of supervision activity is not only the right thing to do; it is, I believe, what the public expects.”

All sex offenders on parole are required to be electronically monitored. Curfews will be in place in all jurisdictions. Parolees working during the curfew period have been instructed to return to their homes after work and follow all other requirements.

Georgia has less than 900 sex offenders under parole supervision which is 4% of the overall parole population in the state.

For additional information visit the Georgia Bureau of Investigation website: http://gbi.georgia.gov/georgia-sex-offender-registry

To search for a registered sex offender in Georgia: http://services.georgia.gov/gbi/gbisor/SORSearch.jsp