The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with all local police departments in Morrison County, have completed the annual Predatory Offender Registration (POR) verification in the county.

According to a press release from the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, all but one individual, 30-year-old Harlan Davis Swanson, was found to be compliant with conditions imposed upon them. Swanson has charges pending through the Morrison County Attorney’s Office for failing to register his current address, which is a felony.

Sheriff Shawn Larsen said it is important for us 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.”

The press release states that multiple predatory offenders were checked in Morrison County during the most recent round of checks. A total of 51 predatory offenders were checked by the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, Pierz Police Department, Motley Police Department and Royalton Police Department. Of that number, the press release states that 24 were Level one offenders, five were Level two offenders, one was Level three, and 21 offenders were not assigned a risk level. 48 predatory offenders were checked by the Little Falls Police Department, which are not part of the breakdown.

Each year, the Sheriff’s Office organizes a verification check for all predatory offenders who are on the registry and residing within the county. The release states that 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 January 1, 1997 have been assigned a risk level. Offenders sentenced to probation or juvenile offenders are not assigned a risk level. Level one offenders are those deemed by Department of Corrections officials as those least likely to re-offend while Level three offenders are considered most likely to re-offend.

By — Malaak Khattab

News Reporter