DENVER -- If Attorney General Ken Salazar gets his way, Colorado citizens would get full access to the state sex offender registry. Salazar wants lawmakers to consider giving all Colorado residents access to the registry.

Under current law, residents can search state records to determine whether any registered sex offenders live nearby or in neighboring law-enforcement jurisdictions.

Residents seeking information on registered sex offenders living elsewhere have to explain their need to know. Lawmakers were reluctant to open the registry to full access because of concerns about privacy rights, but recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have eased those concerns, Salazar said Tuesday.

In a letter to the presidents of the County Sheriffs of Colorado and Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, Salazar asked for support for a bill that would make the changes in the 2004 legislative session.

"Weld County Sheriff John Cook has initiated a program posting sex offender registration information on his office's Web site. I support what Sheriff John Cook is trying to do, particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent rulings upholding the posting of sex offender information on the Internet. Additional legislation is needed here in Colorado to expand public access to these sex offender lists," Salazar wrote.

Allowing full access to all Colorado residents is a public safety concern, said Ken Lane, Salazar's spokesman.

"These are public records and Attorney General Salazar believes it is in the best interest of communities to have the information available to them," Lane said.

Additional Resources

Access Weld County's Sex Offender Registry.
The Colorado Bureau of Information's online sex offender registry.