VIDEO: Law Enforcement Agencies Team Up During A Sex Offender Roundup

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)-The Noxubee County Sheriff’s Department, along with U.S. Marshals were out early Friday morning looking for registered sex offenders.

They were trying to find people who had not updated their information.

“We started approximately about 8 o’clock this morning,” said Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree.

The agencies traveled to Shuqualak, Macon, and Brooksville, knocking on doors.

“We had approximately 20 or 30 we were serving,” the sheriff said. “Approximately about four or five just probably probably wasn’t in place for some reason or the other. Now we’re trying to track them down to see what the issue was.”

Grassaree said the round up was successful, even if no arrests were made.

“We all came back safe,” said Grassaree recalled. “Everybody we went to check with, we checked with them safely. Those that was, were very polite and we ended up handling business like business is supposed to be done.”

Sex offenders are required to check in with the Department of Public Safety every three months to verify and update their residency.

However, many sex offenders move and do not update their information.

“By law if you give that address, that’s the place you have to be staying,” the sheriff explained. “If you’re not staying there, then the law says they shall go to jail, and we are going to have to do a warrant for failure to register.”

These address checks are done every so often, to make sure the location is correct.

“If you get a crime, especially a sexual crime or a child is missing, you just really want to know where everybody is at, because you have to eliminate everybody by checking,” said Grassaree.

Grassaree has this message for registered sex offenders.

“Stay where you’re supposed to be,” he expressed. “The law tells you to check, if you think you’re going to leave, let the highway patrol know.”

Sheriff Grassaree said if a sex offender fails to register, they can spend up to five years in prison.