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There are currently 68 registered sex offenders living within the Mitchell city limits, 12 of whom have been on the registry for more than 25 years.

Convicted sex offenders living in South Dakota, unlike people convicted of crimes related to drugs, theft or other non-sexual offenses, are monitored post-conviction by law enforcement on a regular basis while, in many cases, also being supervised on probation.

Detective Sgt. Dean Knippling, who handles sex offender registration for the Mitchell Police Division, said the current number of sex offenders in the city is fairly standard, as there are usually between 65 and 70 at a given time.

“We have some people that are very stable in their life. They don’t have any changes; they literally come in here twice a year,” Knippling told The Daily Republic on Thursday. “And then some people come in a lot more frequently than that. Usually it’s people that change jobs, move a lot; they end up, for whatever reason, not registering when they’re supposed to.”

Sex offenders with Mitchell addresses report to the Mitchell Police Division to register, while 11 other who live elsewhere in Davison County update their registration at the sheriff’s office. All are required to register every six months, at a minimum, as any time their address, job, phone number or vehicle changes. Failing to properly do so is a Class 6 felony.

“Some people stumble along and pick up two or three of those (charges),” said Ron Freeman, chief court services officer for South Dakota’s first judicial circuit. “They rarely get sent to the pen. They get put on supervision for a couple of years. We make sure they register and get them back in the habit of doing that and then send them off in the world again.”

The length of time a convicted sex offender is required to stay on the registry is determined by South Dakota’s three-tiered system. Based primarily on the severity of the sexual offenses they’ve been convicted of, sex offenders can be placed into Tier III, which requires them to register for life; Tier II, which requires registration for a minimum of 25 years; or Tier I, which is for lower-level felonies such as statutory rape or offenses by juveniles.

Those who are convicted of a Tier I offense must stay on the registry for at least 10 years but can petition to be removed from the registry after five years if they’ve complied with registration requirements and the circumstances of their crime meet certain age-related criteria. Tier II offenders can also petition for removal, though they have to wait a full 25 years after they’re first registered. Currently, 47 of the registered sex offenders living in Mitchell were convicted more than 10 years ago.

Knippling said at a random point once a year, registered sex officers receive a letter from the state at their registered address, which they must mail back to confirm they’re living where they say they are. Additionally, officers are assigned to confirm a registered sex offender’s address and workplace at least once a year, whether they’re on probation or not.

Sex offenders who are required to register have three days after their conviction and any time a notable change is made to update their registration. If they aren’t compliant, Knippling said he goes to the state’s attorney’s office and an arrest is made or a warrant is issued.

“Some people just up and move out of state and don’t let us know. Some people get in trouble and go on the run,” he said. “Usually when they go on the run like that, they’re not registering out of state, either, so they end up getting in trouble in two states, sometimes.”

As of last fall, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, which runs the state’s sex offender registry, 98 percent of the 3,777 sex offenders in South Dakota were found to be compliant with registration. One of the 68 sex offenders in Mitchell is listed as noncompliant.

About one in five sex offenders in Mitchell committed their offense in another state, and five were convicted in federal court. Six sex offenders who were convicted in Davison County are currently in the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, and another 10 are incarcerated in Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield. Of the sex offenders living in Mitchell who were convicted in South Dakota, about two-thirds have spent time in prison, and six are on parole.

Under the South Dakota Public Safety Improvement Act, commonly referred to as Senate Bill 70, people on probation are eligible for earned discharge credits, in which every month of successful probation takes another month off the end of the probation period. Sex offenders are among the only people who can’t earn those credits and who must successfully complete all of the probation time they were given at sentencing.

While on probation, sex offenders statewide are subject to an additional set of restrictions enforced by the Unified Judicial System while also being monitored by local law enforcement. In addition to not being allowed to stay overnight anywhere other than their registered residence without permission, sex offenders in South Dakota can’t have any contact with anyone under the age of 18, with their victim or with other sex offenders unless court services and treatment providers both sign off on it.

There are seven apartment buildings and complexes in Mitchell that house between two and four registered sex offenders, none of whom are currently on probation or parole. At two of those locations, two sex offenders are registered as living in the same apartment unit.

Registered sex offenders on probation also can’t possess cell phones with cameras or access to the internet, handcuffs or other restraints, or any type of pornography. Like anyone else on probation, if a sex offender doesn’t follow conditions as stipulated, they may be cited for a probation violation and resentenced for their offense.

“In the last two to three years, we did have a short-term uptick in the number of sex offenders that came through court and were placed on probation,” Freeman said. “… There were two victims in the Mitchell area that had multiple offenders.”

Freeman said it’s fairly rare to see a sex offender who commits another sexual offense while on probation and that he could recall one in the past several years who had and who was sent to the penitentiary. He estimated the largest number of sex offenders on probation tend to be convicted of sexual contact with or solicitation of a minor. Court services officers check on sex offenders on probation at intervals determined by an internal assessment that evaluates probationers’ risk level.

“A high-risk individual has to be seen once every 10 to 15 days,” he said. “That means that we have to have a face-to-face contact with a high-risk individual every 10 to 15 days, but then there’s other contacts, too, that are required of each (court services officer), like employment, collateral. If they’re in treatment, of course, that’s one of the big things.”

Freeman said there are currently two outpatient treatment programs in Mitchell for sex offenders on probation, most of whom are required to complete treatment as part of their sentence. Prior to sentencing, most people convicted of sex offenses undergo a psychosexual evaluation, the recommendations of which a judge can take into account when determining a sentence.

South Dakota’s sex offender registry can be viewed at sor.sd.gov.