A bill currently being considered by the Iowa Senate would require that all convicted sex offenders be listed in a public database regardless of their risk to re-offend.

Currently, sex offenders are only placed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry if they are considered to be at a moderate to high risk to re-offend.

The bill was passed by the Iowa House of Representatives March 24 by a vote of 97-3.

State Rep. David Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, sponsored the bill. Tjepkes said the current risk assessment used by the state of Iowa can be misleading.

“They’re not an accurate predictor of anybody’s future behavior,” Tjepkes said.

He said the time it takes to perform a risk assessment causes many sex offenders not to be listed on the public database for an extended amount of time.

The bill coincided with a position paper written by the Iowa Board for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers that said the risk assessments required by Iowa law since 1998 were ineffective. The board also stated that it supported the bill because of the “cost to the state of due process for sex offender risk assessment appeals both at administrative and judicial review stages.”

Public records show sex offenders are most often considered at moderate or high risk to re-offend if their cases involved minors. There are 77 convicted sex offenders in Story County. Nineteen of those are listed as moderate or high risks to re-offend with the listings published on the Web site www.iowasexoffender.com. Of those listed, 11 of those live in Ames.

Of the 11, six are charged with third-degree sex abuse, four with lascivious acts with a child and one with indecent contact with a child. All victims were 15 or under at the time of the incident.

Steve Conlon, Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesman, said the risk assessment is based on factors such as past criminal record and the severity of the sex crime.

He said he fully supports this bill because of its ability to inform the citizens of Iowa.

“A very common response is, ‘Why aren’t all [sex offenders] on [the list]?'” Conlon said.

He said by taking away the risk assessment requirement and listing offenders based on conviction, more money could be concentrated on keeping track of the addresses of sex offenders. Conlon said many will report an address change once a month. He said about 300 address changes are filed with the department every month.

“As of July 1, 1995, only 1,838 [out of 5,849 who are registered] have never reported an address change,” Conlon said.

Only two sex offenders who live in Ames were convicted in Story County. Michael Digby, 301 S. 4th St. Apt. 29, was convicted of third-degree sex abuse of a 14-year-old female in 1999. Paul Skaar, 105 S. Maple Ave., was convicted of lascivious acts with a child — a 6-year-old male — in 1997. The rest were convicted in other Iowa counties or out of state. According to statistics provided by the Iowa Sex Offender Registry Web site, 880 out of 5,849 individuals registered were from out of state as of April 1, 2004.

Conlon said the department sends out mailings each month to verify the addresses of those on the list. If no response is received, further inquiry is required. He said 20 to 25 percent of the monthly mailings require special attention.

Conlon said he agrees that the risk assessment does not help to predict the future behavior of sex offenders and that counseling does not always help.

“Regardless of how much counseling, that’s history,” Conlon said. “That can’t be undone.”