Smith County Sex Offenders Checked

TYLER — A contingent of law officers have completed a check of sex offenders who live in Smith County. Of the 352 persons investigated on Thursday and Friday, 26 were said to be out of compliance. Sheriff Larry Smith says these checks are very comprehensive and they are unannounced. Taking part in the check was a team of about 50 officers, including members of 15 different local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Service Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force.

Sheriff Smith tells KETK these “verification checks send a message to all sex offenders that they will be arrested if they are out of compliance of their sex offender registration requirements. An offender has strict requirements. If they violate any of their sex offender registration requirements, a warrant will be issued for their arrest.”

The sheriff said “It took two days to conduct this verification check, but it took a lot of task force members hundreds of hours of planning and coordination to make it happen. Having the right people and the right number of people assigned to this effort was key and I am grateful to each one of them for their hard work.”