Trisha Mellberg said Alabama’s new sex offender law is all about accountability.

“The new law gives law enforcement officers better tools to hold sex offenders accountable for registering and complying with the rules and regulations they must live under,” said Mellberg, who conducted a training class for 90 officers this week in Florence.

The class was sponsored by the Alabama District Attorney’s Association and hosted by Lauderdale County’s sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices.

The new law went into effect in July, and emphasizes tracking of convicted sex offenders by requiring them to register their living arrangements four times a year,

“There is a fear that we have sex offenders who fall through loop holes (when it comes to registering and living where they are suppose to),” Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said. “A lot of them will be cunning, trying to conceal their whereabouts.

“We had one who registered in Marion County but lived in Lauderdale County. Every time he was supposed to register, he would drive to Marion County and do so. But he wasn’t living there.”

Under the old law, Mellberg said convicted sex offenders have to register twice a year with the county where they live. They also had to register with the municipality they live in, if that city has a population of more than 5,000.

The new law now requires convicted sex offenders to register four times a year.

“And if they live in a municipality with a population larger than 5,000, they have to register with the county and the city four times each,” Sheffield police detective Bobby McCalpin said.

“The idea is that if they don’t register, instead of being six months behind trying to find them, we’ll only been three months behind,” Connolly said.

Every time they register, they must pay a $10 fee, according to the new law.

McCalpin added the new requires the person to review a five-page guidelines sheet, which takes about an hour.

“Everything is more detailed and I guess that’s an effort to help law enforcement be able to track and keep up with their movements and make sure they’re registering,” he said.

He said Sheffield police have arrested seven registered sex offenders over the past two years because of a residency notification violation.

Mellberg said the new law states it’s a felony crime for someone to cover up or lie to help a sex offender live somewhere other than where they are registered to live.

Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.