The North Carolina House recently passed a bill amending the state’s sex-offender registry law.

Among the changes called for in the legislation would be a requirement to provide each county’s sheriff with a statement on the name of a sex offender at the time of his or her conviction and any aliases the offender used, along with the person’s name as it appeared on the judgment imposing a sentence.

The bill also provides that, “If a person required to register changes his or her name pursuant to Chapter 101 of the General Statues or by another method, then the person shall, within 10 days, report in person to the sheriff of the county with whom the person registered to provide the name change to the sheriff. The sheriff shall immediately forward this information to the Division (of Criminal Statistics).”

Also, any sex offender petitioning to have his or her name removed from the registry for a conviction in another state, 10 years beyond the initial conviction, would have to give written notice to the sheriff of the county in which he or she resides and include an affidavit verifying he or she has notified the sheriff of the petition.

Finally, the bill orders the state, “To maintain the system for public access so that a registrant’s full name, any aliases, and any legal name changes are cross-referenced and a member of the public may conduct a search of the system for a registrant under any of those names.”

One of the primary sponsors of this bill is Rep. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort.

We don’t need to tell you that we’re not legal experts, but, with the limited knowledge we have, we contend this bill will benefit past and, potentially, future victims of sex offenders in this state.

Sex offenses are among the most heinous crimes imaginable, and residents should be able to use any tools necessary to track the people who commit these crimes.

It appears lawmakers in the General Assembly understand the need to protect law-abiding citizens from sex offenders.

This measure, House Bill 219, passed by a unanimous vote on March 10, with some legislators out of the House because of excused absences.

We would favor more legislative efforts to keep people up to date on criminal records.

Of course, criminals who have served their time deserve a second chance, but the very nature of sex offenses means the lawbreakers who engaged in these activities should shoulder the additional burden of keeping tabs with law enforcement over the long term.

We commend the House for passing this bill, and note the bill passed the Senate on first reading Monday and was referred to the Committee on Judiciary II.