Law enforcement in Morrison County has completed the annual predatory offender registration (POR) verifications for 62 individuals in Morrison County, not including 43 in Little Falls. Just two were found to be out of compliance.
Steven David Fuchs, 29, and Dan Leroy Ferguson, 25, both have charges pending through the Morrison County attorney’s office for failing to register their current address, which is a felony.
Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen said each year the sheriff’s office organizes a verification check for all predatory offenders who are on the registry and residing within the county, working with local law enforcement.
He said Minnesota only began registering predatory offenders in 1991 and did not assign risk level until 1997. Only those offenders who have been sentenced to prison and who were released after Jan. 1, 1997 have been assigned a risk level. Offenders sentenced to probation, or juvenile offenders, are not assigned a risk level. Level 1 offenders are those deemed by the Department of Corrections officials as least likely to re-offend, while Level 3 offenders are considered most likely to re-offend.
During the most recent round of checks, Larsen said multiple predatory offenders were checked in Morrison County.
He said 62 predatory offenders were checked by the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, Pierz Police Department, Motley Police Department and Royalton Police Department. Of that number, 19 were Level 1 offenders, six were Level 2, one was Level 3 and 36 offenders were not assigned a risk level.
Larsen said 43 predatory offenders were checked by the Little Falls Police Department, which are not part of this breakdown.
Larsen said it is important for law enforcement to keep tabs on the predatory offender registry.
“I feel it is extremely important that these people remain aware that we know who they are and our office will continue to hold them accountable,” Larsen said.