The mission of the Collin County CSCD Sex Offender Program is to protect the community from sexual predators through the use of the most effective and progressive supervision techniques, while also affording offenders the opportunity to modify their behavior under the direction of treatment teams.
The Sex Offender Program is a specialized supervision caseload for offenders placed on supervision for sexual offenses. This website is a resource for citizens to learn more about sex offender supervision in Collin County.
The Sex Offender Caseload (SOC) is a specialized caseload devoted to using the most progressive and effective supervision tools to monitor sex offenders' compliance with conditions of community supervision. Accountability is an integral part of the SOC. Offenders are held accountable for their offenses and other dangerous behaviors. An important goal of the program is to have offenders understand and accept responsibility for their offenses, behaviors and thoughts.
Offenders in the program must attend sex offender treatment. Sex offender treatment differs somewhat from most people's perception of "counseling." Unlike some traditional therapies, sex offender treatment is very cognitive-behavioral in nature, and offenders in treatment are often confronted with their cognitive distortions. Group therapy is the preferred modality. Offenders in treatment learn to identify their offense cycles, develop victim empathy, construct relapse prevention plans and deal with other life issues.
SOC utilizes the treatment-team approach endorsed by the American Probation and Parole Association for the supervision of sex offenders. Also called the containment approach, treatment teams are comprised of community supervision officers, sex offender therapists and polygraph examiners. Free exchange of information among these members is vital to the proper supervision of sex offenders.
Collin County CSCD believes that frequent visits outside the office atmosphere are an important part of sex offender supervision. Community supervision officers make random checks of offenders' home environments to discuss special issues and monitor their surroundings for warning signs of risk.
The program is funded through three primary means. A large portion of the operating costs is supported by a grant from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice -- Community Justice Assistance Division. Other funds come from monthly supervision fees paid by offenders and basic supervision funds from the state.
State law requires persons convicted of or placed on deferred community supervision for certain offenses to register as sex offenders. Offenders who commit "sexually violent" offenses (most contact offenses) must register for the remainder of their lives, even after completing community supervision or parole. Others (some non-contact offenses) may quit registering ten years after completion of their supervision terms, while some offenders in this classification register for the terms of their supervision only.
Collin County CSCD works closely with area law enforcement agencies and Texas DPS to ensure that registration information is accurate and up-to-date for all offenders. Regular field contacts are also used to verify the information contained in the registry.
NOTE: Offenders placed on DEFERRED SUPERVISION for sexually violent offenses must register for the remainder of their lives, regardless of whether or not they successfully complete their terms of supervision. (See FAQ for explanation of deferred supervision.)
Sex offenders register with local law enforcement agencies, police departments or sheriff's offices where they live. Information obtained by these agencies includes basic descriptive characteristics, shoe size, blood type, vehicle information, employment information and offense. Local law enforcement agencies keep this information on file and send copies of it to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in Austin. DPS oversees and coordinates registration for the state.
Registrants must notify local law enforcement agencies
PRIOR to changing their residences. If registrants move to other jurisdictions, they must register with local law enforcement agencies within seven days of their relocation. Depending on their criminal histories, they also must report to law enforcement agencies every year or every 90 days to update their registry information.
Failure to comply with sex offender registration laws is a felony offense.
For the express purpose of giving citizens a means of identifying sex offenders and protecting themselves against victimization, the Legislature has recently enacted law changes that give the public much more access to sex offender registration information. Citizens may access the DPS sex offender registration files free of charge through the
Texas DPS website. As with any website, citizens should direct questions regarding information found on this website directly to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
You may also visit
www.familywatchdog.us for nationwide registered sex offender information.
When sex offenders are placed on community supervision, judges order that they perform or refrain from certain behaviors to successfully complete their supervision terms. Conditions of supervision are unique to each offender. There are often differences in conditions from one court to another, as well as from one county to another. Although some conditions are required by law, judges have wide discretion in mandating conditions of supervision. The conditions discussed below are commonly found in supervision orders coming from the Collin County Courts; however, judges may add, delete or modify any of these conditions in any individual case.
Sex offenders on supervision must adhere to the standard conditions of supervision common to all felony offenders. These conditions include refraining from criminal conduct, drug/alcohol use and association with felons, reporting to supervision officers as directed and submitting to drug testing.
In addition to these conditions, sex offenders are required to attend and participate in sex offender treatment with registered treatment providers. These treatment groups typically meet once per week. As part of their treatment, offenders are often confronted with cognitive distortions and made aware of their offense cycles.
Offenders are responsible for a large portion of the costs associated with their treatment.
Conditions regarding contact with children vary. Most sex offenders are initially prohibited from any contact with children. Some offenders are permitted to have supervised contact with their biological children. As offenders participate and progress in sex offender treatment, their conditions may be modified progressively to allow more supervised contact with children.
Sex offenders are not permitted to reside near schools or daycare centers, and are prohibited from frequenting places where children are known to congregate.
Sex offenders are prohibited from viewing or purchasing pornography or going to sexually oriented businesses. They are typically restricted from accessing the Internet.
An important aspect of the Sex Offender Accountability Program is the belief that three are more effective than one. Treatment teams consisting of three people, each with specific roles and strengths, work closely together to manage offenders' risks of re-offending and to reduce their abilities to manipulate the system. Members of the treatment teams are:
Community Supervision Officers: CSO's monitor offenders' behaviors in the field and assess compliance with court orders. Through regular contacts with offenders and communication with therapists, CSO's learn offenders' offense cycles and use that information to recognize high-risk situations. CSO's are also the eyes and ears of the courts, and as such, are responsible for initiating court action when they detect violations of supervision terms.
Sex Offender Therapists: Sex offender therapists typically see offenders once each week in group settings. The State of Texas maintains a registry for therapists who meet stringent requirements as sex offender treatment providers. Therapists must have extensive experience in working with sex offenders before they qualify as registered providers. By maintaining contact with CSO's, therapists often learn about offenders' environments or "red flags" observed by CSO's. This information prevents offenders from hiding information from their therapists or treatment groups.
Polygraph Examiners: Sex offenders are generally very manipulative and superficially compliant. Secrets are the best friends of sex offenders. The expertise of polygraph examiners is very useful in detecting sex offender deception. Information gained from polygraph examinations is forwarded to therapists and CSO's, and is very important to the effectiveness of treatment teams.
These three entities work together to "contain" offenders' risks to the community. More information about the containment approach can be found in
Managing the Adult Sex Offender: A Containment Approach (ISBN: 0-87292-908-C). This book is published by the
American Probation and Parole Association.
At a time when sex offenders are in the news for committing serious crimes, many people question why sex offenders are allowed the privilege of community supervision. Media reports often equate the placement of sex offenders on community supervision as a failure of the criminal justice system.
Some offenders are indeed not appropriate for community supervision. For offenders with extensive histories of sexual abuse or violence, those who indicate high risk and/or those who show no interest in changing their behaviors or thinking, prison may be the only way to adequately protect the public. But for those deemed appropriate by the courts, community supervision can benefit the public.
If all sex offenders were sentenced to prison terms, one of two things would happen -- either prison sentences actually served would become shorter to make room for those coming into prison, or the State would have to build more than 25,000 additional prison beds immediately. The cost of prison construction is high and there is currently a shortage in correctional officer staffing of crisis proportions. These and other factors make the possibility of ending community supervision for sex offenders quite prohibitive.
Placing sex offenders on community supervision is sometimes supported by victims or their families. In recent years Texas has increased victims' participation in court processes. Many victims realize that sex offender supervision is not a "slap on the wrist," but rather is aimed at holding offenders accountable and protecting the public. Also, offenders placed on supervision are much more likely to pay restitution for treatment costs of victims.
The
Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment states that sex offender treatment in the community is cost effective. They report that a reduction of just 1% in recidivism pays for the treatment of all treated sex offenders by reducing costs related to investigations, prosecutions, and incarcerations (Research shows sex offender treatment to be more effective in its rate of recidivism reduction.)
Collin County CSCD believes that the progress witnessed by the SOC and similar programs across the nation demonstrates the possibility of properly supervising offenders in the community without sacrificing public safety.