BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate unanimously adopted an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2014 budget to bring important public safety reforms to the Commonwealth, strengthening the procedures for classifying convicted sex offenders and ensuring that the Sex Offender Registry Board has the information it needs to protect our children and communities, Senator Brian A. Joyce announced.

“These critical improvements will offer parents and children further protections from predators,” said Joyce, a cosponsor of the measure. “The registry depends on accurate, timely and accessible information. It is our duty to ensure that the system is working and to do everything in our power to prevent further abuse.”

The amendment allows the Sex Offender Registry Board to reclassify a sex offender without a new conviction and authorizes the police and Sex Offender Registry Board to release information on Level 1 sex offenders to the Department of Early Education and Care.

Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders will be required to register within two days of being released from custody. The law currently requires Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders to annually register in person but does not specify when they must first appear after being released from custody.

The Senate’s budget also addresses the need to reform the state’s sex offender registry laws by including measures that require Level 2 sex offender information be made available online and requiring the Department of Early Education and Care to cross-reference sex offender registry information with the address of a childcare program when licensing or approving childcare providers.

Joyce also sponsored bills that would notify neighbors when a Level 2 sex offender moves into an adjacent property, and that would extend the statute of limitations on cases of child sexual abuse.