A new audit of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry has uncovered accuracy issues, including potentially thousands of incorrect addresses for registered offenders.
The report was released on Thursday (Oct. 16) by the Office of the Auditor General.
The comprehensive review examined whether the Michigan State Police (MSP) is effectively maintaining the state’s sex offender database, which currently tracks approximately 44,000 registered offenders as of July 2024.
In a random sample of 60 registered offenders, the audit found that 9% had addresses that didn’t match their state identification records.
This could mean more than 2,700 registrants may be listed at an incorrect address when compared to the full database.
The Michigan State Police acknowledged that they only compare addresses when offenders initially register or when they move to or from Michigan.
According to the audit report, MSP said, “After a registrant’s record is activated, MSP does not have a process in place to periodically compare MSOR addresses with the DOS driver’s license file.”
Notably, there is currently no legal requirement for the State Police to cross-reference addresses with other government databases.
The Michigan State Police has expressed agreement with many of the audit’s findings and is exploring ways to improve the database’s accuracy.