VIDALIA — Parish residents now have a way to find out if they have any registered sex offenders living in their neighborhood.

Concordia Parish Sheriff Randy Maxwell revealed the Concordia Parish extension of an online registry of sex offenders at a press conference Tuesday.

The Web site, which can be accessed at www.concordiasheriff.org, allows citizens to enter their home or work address and will then generate a map showing their location relative to the residences of registered sex offenders.

It also allows citizens to sign up to receive e-mail alerts when a sex offender moves into their area.

“You may be surprised at how many sex offenders we have in Concordia Parish,” Maxwell said. “It’s amazing how many people fall into that category (of criminal offender) in this small, rural parish.”

The Web site is a cooperative effort between the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, the Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association.

The statewide database has been up and operating for approximately a month, and the Concordia Parish subportal has been operative for approximately three weeks, though both systems have had bugs that needed to be worked out, CPSO Capt. Frankie Carroll said.

The timing of the finished product is also seasonally convenient, Maxwell said.

“You don’t want your kids going up to this guy’s house and knocking on the door trick-or-treating,” he said.

Information available on the site includes the name, age, address, picture, physical description and convicted offense for each offender.

It also includes information about any vehicles registered in the name of a convicted sex offender.

Because of the transient nature society has adopted, a lot of people may not be aware that there is a sex offender living down the street, Maxwell said.

“It’s kind of gotten to where you get up in the morning, go to work and then go home, and a lot of times you don’t know who your neighbors are,” he said.

Because it is a statewide collaboration, residents can search the database for sex offenders in other communities as well.

“If you have your daughter going to school in Monroe, you might want her to know if there is a rapist living across the street,” Maxwell said.

A number of those listed in the Concordia Parish registry are inmates currently incarcerated in the Parish’s correctional facility.

Because there are legal ramifications for failure to do so, Maxwell encouraged any convicted sex offenders who have moved into the area to register with the sheriff’s office.