DECATUR - New laws are continuing Illinois' decade-old crackdown on sex offenders, but the tougher statutes are creating headaches and expense for local law enforcement agencies.

They also are raising legal questions that state courts likely will wind up deciding.

Among the latest laws dealing with sex offenders are two sponsored by state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, that were signed earlier this year by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

One creates the Sex Offender Task Force, to be composed of legislators and representatives from the Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois attorney general's office, sexual assault victims' service providers and personnel from other criminal justice and law enforcement entities.

The task force is to:

n study communications among states regarding the interstate movement of registered sex offenders;

n review sex offender laws dealing with residency in Illinois and its border states;

n evaluate the extent to which law enforcement resources are affected by residency restrictions;

n and examine the impact of residency restrictions on the state's parole, mandatory supervised release and probation systems.

A report of those findings is to be given to the governor by Monday.

"As neighboring states change and evolve their laws against sexual predators and convicted offenders, Illinois is taking an important step by determining what we can do better and what has worked well elsewhere," Flider said.

Another new law requires sex offenders to renew their driver's licenses annually, rather than every four years.

Flider said he hopes the stricter regulation will help law enforcement keep better tabs on sex offenders by providing another source to determine that offenders are living where they are registered.

"The new law provides an extra measure of security," Flider said. "If a sex offender is not registering and is caught for a traffic offense, authorities could find he is not registered if his driver's license is expired. Police can check on why the license was not renewed. Did the offender move and not report that fact?"

Since 1996, convicted sex offenders, or those found not guilty of a sex offense by reason of insanity, have had to register with the Illinois State Police, which maintains a Web site at www.isp.state.il.us, where the list can be accessed. Local jurisdictions handle the registration and forward the data to the state.

Currently, 215 sex offenders are registered in Decatur, said Kimberly Chervinko, supervisor of crime analysis for the Decatur Police Department.

Police Chief James Anderson said the last major change in the registration law generated a tremendous amount of work for local law enforcement agencies.

"Offenders have to register in person," Anderson said. "It used to be they could call in if they changed jobs or went to school. Now, they have to do those changes in person."

Every time an offender comes into the Law Enforcement Center to change an address, job or educational status, the offender must meet with a police officer to re-register, Anderson said. That takes officers away from patrol and crime prevention duties, he said.

The state legislature mandated the reporting procedure changes starting this year but gave local governments no funding to cover the added cost, Anderson said. Worse, there is confusion among attorneys and judges over the state sex offender registration requirements, he said.

"Some offenders come in and tell us a judge said they only had to register for 10 years," Anderson said. "But they have to register for life. But nothing prevents a sex offender from moving in with a family that has kids. We find sex offenses occur most often with people the offender knows."

Flider said he would prefer the legislature to approve an appropriation to help local governments with costs created by new laws.

"But when people see these crimes happen, they ask why," Flider said. "We try to err on the side of public safety."

Chervinko said that currently, juvenile sex offenders' names are not on the state Web site but are included with quarterly notification counties send to schools and day care centers.

A law took effect Jan. 1 that dictated when juvenile sex offenders turn 17 they have to register as an adult and thereafter will be treated as an adult, Chervinko said.

"When legislators figured out the ramifications of that law, they passed a stay of the law taking effect," she said. "But the governor didn't sign it. The Illinois State Police did not enforce the requirement to register initially but then decided that legally, they had to enforce it and did so."

A lawsuit filed in Kane County is challenging the registration of juvenile offenders as adults, contending to require them to do so is a violation of their constitutional rights, Chervinko said. Supporters of the lawsuit claim that to treat all offenders the same limits the hope of ever rehabilitating the youth offenders, she said.

Other laws enacted this year pertaining to sex offenders are:

n A person convicted of or placed on parole, mandatory supervised release or extended mandatory supervised release for an offense under the Sex Offender Registration Act must wear an approved electronic monitoring device while under supervision.

n The Illinois Department of Corrections must notify the state's attorney in the county in which a sex offender was convicted or ruled delinquent that the offender is being released and is eligible for commitment under the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act.

Ron Ingram can be reached at ringram@herald-review.com or 421-7973.