Campus Sex Crime Prevention
The Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act (the “Act”) is a federal law that provides for the tracking of convicted sex offenders enrolled in or employed at institutions of higher education. Under the terms of the Act, states are required to compile registries of sex offenders, and to identify those offenders who are students or employees of institutions of higher education. The Act places the burden on the sex offender to report this information, and on the state to compile it, rather than on the educational institution to develop it.
The law also requires institutions of higher education to notify their campus communities as to how and where such sex offender registry information can be accessed. Sex offender information in Georgia is complied by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The Registry doesn’t allow a user to search by a particular campus to determine if offenders are students or employees of that institution of higher education. However, this information is collected by the Sheriff’s Department in each county. In Bibb County, you may call Morgan Sams (478-621-6889) or Lt. Greg Abernathy (478-621-6816) at the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office for more specific information about offenders in Bibb County. For the other counties where Mercer has campuses or Regional Academic Centers, you may wish to contact their local Sheriff’s Department for more specific information. The counties in which Mercer University’s campuses and Regional Academic Centers are located are:
- Macon campus: Bibb County
- Atlanta campus: Dekalb County
- Savannah: Chatham County
- Douglas County Center: Douglas County
- Columbus Campus: Muscogee County
- Henry County Center: Henry County
- Warner Robins: Houston County