Please take a moment to read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
What is Family Watchdog?
Family Watchdog allows you to see where registered sexual offenders live and work around you.
Is there a cost to use Family Watchdog?
There is no fee associated with looking up offenders and viewing maps.
How long has Family Watchdog been available?
Family Watchdog has been in production since August 25, 2005.
What else does Family Watchdog do?
Family Watchdog can proactively notify you when a registered sexual predator moves within five miles of a given address that you care about. Family Watchdog can also track offenders and send you notifications if the specified offender has a change.
What addresses can I choose?
You may use any address that you want. Home. School. Church. Playground. Day care center. A parent's house. Whatever address is important to you.
Is there a cost to use this service?
There is no fee for any Family Watchdog service.
I live in an upscale neighborhood. Why do I need this service?
Sexual predators have no physical borders, and are not confined to any given socio-economic group.
How will you notify me?
Our service uses email as a primary notification mechanism. We are developing a voice service where we can call and leave a message for you, if you don't have an email address. We do NOT send direct mail information at any time.
Where do you get your data?
We receive our data from multiple sources. We combine and cross reference the data from all four sources in order to provide the most possible coverage and protection.
Are there registered sexual offenders that are not in your database?
Unfortunately, yes. Our service relies on publicly available data. If an offender moves and does not report to the county sheriff in which they reside, we will not know that they have moved.
There is someone listed in my neighborhood or at work that left and you still show them. Why?
Our service relies on publicly available data. If a sexual offender moves and does not report their address change, we will not know that they have moved.
Why does the little marker for the offender shows up in the wrong place on the map?
We determine the offender's address on the map using census data. We find that at times an address can be 100 meters or more off which would be about 1 city block off as drawn on a map. We are working on this issue, and if you notice that an address is off, please email our customer service.
If I know of an offender that is not in your database, should I contact you?
No. Please contact your local police or sheriff department. A registered sexual offender that fails to report commits a felony, and can be returned to prison.
Should I confront someone on your list? Can I make them move?
No. Harassing anyone on the offender registry is a misdemeanor and can be punished by both a fine and jail time. The purpose of this service is to allow you to identify sexual predators that you may come in contact with, not as a tool to hunt them down and run them out.site sponsors