ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Oklahoma State Senate - News</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="author" content="oklahoma state senate staff"> <meta name="description" content="Oklahoma State Senate - Press Release"> <meta name="keywords" content="oklahoma, state, senate, press, release"> </head> <body leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> <table width="87%" height="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the main navigation menu"> <tr> <td colspan="+2"><!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/barnews.lbi" --> &nbsp;<map name="m_barnews"><area shape="rect" coords="0,0,26,19" href="../../../index.htm" alt="Link to main page" ><area shape="rect" coords="26,0,119,20" href="../../../senators.htm" alt="Link to Senators" ><area shape="rect" coords="124,0,217,20" href="../../../legislation.htm" alt="Link to Legislation" ><area shape="rect" coords="216,0,309,20" href="../../../schedule.htm" alt="Link to Schedule" ><area shape="rect" coords="310,0,403,20" href="../../../committees.htm" alt="Link to Committees" ><area shape="rect" coords="403,0,496,20" href="../../../publications.htm" alt="Link to Publications" ><area shape="rect" coords="498,2,591,20" href="../../../news.htm" alt="Link to News" ><area shape="rect" coords="593,0,689,20" href="../../../staff.htm" alt="Link to Staff" ></map><!-- #EndLibraryItem --></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"> <table width="100%" height="100%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the news navigation menu"> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"></td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> <td width="100%"><table width="82%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the main content of the page"> <tr> <TD width="75%"> <p align="center"><FONT SIZE="+3" FACE="Arial" align="center"><strong>Oklahoma State Senate <br> </strong></font>Communications Division<br> State Capitol<br> Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105</p> <div align="center"> <table width="14%" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td width="52%" bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><a href="../../press_releases_audio_clips/2010_audio_clips/prac201002.html"><img src="../headphone.gif" alt="Audio clip" width="27" height="27" border="0"></a></div></td> <td width="48%" bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><font face="Arial"><a href="pr20100217bpv.html"><img src="../../printnews.gif" alt="Printer-friendly version" width="25" height="25" border="0"></a></font></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td bordercolor="0"><div align="center"> <a href="../../press_releases_audio_clips/2010_audio_clips/prac201002.html">Audio</a></div></td> <td bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><a href="pr20100225cpv.html">Print</a></div></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p align="center">For Immediate Release: February 25, 2010<br> <br> <img src="../senator_photos/branan_bio.jpg" alt="Sen. Cliff Branan" width="143" height="200"> <br> Sen. Cliff Branan<br> <br> <b>Senate Gives Unanimous Approval to Bill Closing Loophole in Sex Offender Registry</b></p> <p align="left">The full Senate has given its approval to a measure designed to close a loophole in Oklahoma s sex offender registration law. Sen. <a href="../../../Senators/biographies/branan_bio.html">Cliff Branan</a> is the author of the legislation. Senate Bill 2231 won unanimous approval by the Senate on Thursday.</p> <p align="left"> Requiring sex offenders to register is supposed to be a way to keep track of where these predators are and ensure the public can access that information, said Branan, R-Oklahoma City.  But the way the current law is written, offenders can legally give a post office box number instead of a street address. This defeats the whole purpose. SB 2231 would require them to use the actual address of where they re currently living. </p> <p align="left">According to the Department of Corrections, there are currently 6,400 people on Oklahoma s sex offender registry. These include individuals who have been convicted of crimes ranging from indecent exposure to rape and child molestation. Another 3, 500 convicted sex offenders are currently behind bars in the state.</p> <p align="left"> We have penalties on the books for sex offenders who fail to register or update their information when they move. The problem is using just a post office box is perfectly legal, Branan said.  My legislation fixes that problem. </p> <p align="left">If approved by both chambers and signed by the governor, the new law would take effect on November 1, 2010.<br> <strong><br> </strong> <strong>For more information contact:</strong><br> Sen. Branan 405-521-5543</p> <p align="left"><img src="../bandblue.gif" alt="Inon: Horizontal Blue Band" width="640" height="6"></p> <table border=0 align="center" summary="this table contains return links"> <tr> <td width="267"> <center> <font size="-1" face="MS Sans Serif"><a href="pr201001.html">February Press Releases </a>| </font><font face="MS Sans Serif"><a href="../../press_releases.html"><font size="-1">Press Releases</font></a></font><font size="-1"> </font> </center></td> </tr> </table> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="100%">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>