BOSTON –Today, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office released an audit of the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB), which reviewed the period of July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021. The current audit followed up on deficiencies identified in a 2017 audit completed under the previous administration.
In our report, Auditor DiZoglio notes that SORB has not yet implemented prior recommendations to ensure that they have current addresses for sex offenders in violation.
Although SORB entered into interdepartmental service agreements with the Department of Transitional Assistance and the Department of Revenue to conduct address verification data matching, they did not perform these verifications to ensure accurate data matched.
In addition, SORB has not entered into any other interdepartmental service agreements with executive branch agencies to verify sex offenders’ addresses.
“By law, SORB is required to keep sex offender registry information up-to-date and accurate. It is important that SORB work with our state and local public safety departments to properly educate the public about registered sex offenders living, working, or attending school in the Commonwealth,” said Auditor DiZoglio.
“Our audits exist to help make government work better. When our audit findings and recommendations are ignored, as was the case here, it’s not only a waste of taxpayer dollars but can be a threat to public safety. It is imperative that these matters be addressed immediately.”