With Halloween approaching, Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell is urging families to check a web-based program called OffenderWatch to make sure trick-or-treaters avoid the homes of registered sex offenders.

The sheriff says people can go to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation [DCI] website and use the OffenderWatch link to get information on registered sex offenders. He says the mapping and address features on the website pinpoint exactly where offenders live.

Sheriff Lowell says the website also includes a range of other resources, including the ability to sign up for free email notifications to let you know if a registered sex offender moves into the area of any address you register.

That could include the homes of grandparents, babysitters, family friends or any other place your children spend a lot of time.

He says the alerts are in real time and are emailed out anytime a new offender has registered with your local sheriff's office

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