$700,000 awarded for sex offender enforcement efforts

ANNAPOLIS, Md. –The Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) today announced nearly $700,000 in awards to assist law enforcement agencies in their sex offender registration, compliance, and enforcement efforts.

The funding, which will be distributed to each Maryland county and Baltimore City, will be used to ensure compliance with Maryland law by those required to register or re-register with the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. The funding is to be used specifically for offender registration, compliance checks, and monitoring.

“Governor Hogan has made it very clear that we must have a criminal justice system that works to stop crime and to hold offenders accountable for their actions,” said V. Glenn Fueston, Jr., Executive Director of GOCCP. “We are committed to doing all that we can to keep our citizens safe.”

Governor Hogan has made protecting victims of crime and building a safer Maryland a priority. This past legislative session, the governor supported and signed the Repeat Sexual Predator Prevention Act, which will allow courts to admit evidence of a defendant’s prior history of sexual crimes or abuse during prosecution for subsequent sexual offenses. The governor also signed legislation to allow victims who become pregnant as a result of a sexual assault to end the parental rights of their attacker.

Awards were made to the following jurisdictions:

Allegany/Cumberland Police Department – $20,719
Anne Arundel County Police Department – $47,221
Baltimore Police Department – $174,911
Baltimore County Police Department – $93,237
Calvert County Sheriff’s Office – $13,010
Caroline County Sheriff’s Office – $7,589
Carroll County Sheriff’s Office – $16,262
Cecil County Sheriff’s Office – $19,876
Charles County Sheriff’s Office – $19,515
Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office – $8,914
Frederick County Sheriff’s Office – $24,695
Garrett County Sheriff’s Office – $7,227
Harford County Sheriff’s Office – $25,659
Howard County Police Department – $12,167
Kent County Sheriff’s Office – $2,891
Montgomery County Police Department – $46,740
Prince George’s County Police Department – $89,745
Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office – $4,697
Somerset County Sheriff’s Office – $7,951
St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office – $13,612
Talbot County Sheriff’s Office – $4,819
Washington County Sheriff’s Office – $36,259
Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office – $20,479
Worcester County Sheriff’s Office – $10,721